


Pitch Black, Pale Blue

by galaxiebot



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Slow Burn, Young Jesse McCree/Hanzo Shimada
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 07:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 77,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13453557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxiebot/pseuds/galaxiebot
Summary: No idea what the point of the mission is, sick of training exercises, and desperately interested in the mark he’s been tailing, McCree probably shouldn’t throw his career out the window for Hanzo Shimada, but he’s pretty sure Reyes won’t find out anyway. Little does he know he’s about to get dragged headlong into the Shimada clan’s secrets, holding onto Hanzo’s hand the whole way. He never expected it to turn out this way.





	1. Chapter 1

McCree had tailed them the short distance from the compound to Hanamura’s center, only an hour or so total of zig-zagging through streets McCree only just became familiar with. Now though, he noticed the kid looked off, he started to move different all the sudden, like he knew someone could be watching them. The bodyguards paid no mind to anything, their eyes steadily on the teenager walking just a few paces in front of them, trying his hardest to look like the bodyguards weren’t with him. McCree stayed ahead of them, watching the mirrored screen of his phone as the boy seemed to catch McCree’s eyes. For a flash of a moment, McCree thought that maybe Hanzo or a guard had detected him, so he ducked into an alley, making it look as though he hadn’t followed the boy and his guards there.

He groaned, knowing that he’d have to dig around the city for them again once he’d shaken the uneasy feeling of almost getting caught. It would take a lot of effort just to ensure something that McCree was already pretty positive hadn’t happened. McCree tipped his hat back, placing a cigarette between his lips and lit up. He shot a text to Reyes that he’d lost the group. He’d get chewed out later, but he knew he needed at least semi-honest reports to send to Reyes.

The phone pressed to his ear, he spoke softly into the speaker, recording what he’d seen the two guards and the young man doing that day. Reyes told him to keep detailed records, but honestly most of what McCree observed involved eating, studying, and training. It seemed ridiculous that Overwatch wanted surveillance on this family at all. Reyes didn’t even tell McCree why they needed to follow these guys around, he hoped he got an explanation soon. Otherwise, McCree would continue to have no idea what Overwatch wanted to know about the Shimadas and his frustration might peak.  

“ _So you were following us_.”

McCree nearly jumped out of his skin, the boy standing about two feet from him had his arms crossed over his chest. His face intense and heated, but overall McCree found difficulty trying to take him seriously. Hanzo Shimada, eldest son of the Shimada family according to Reyes, had the face of a pissed-off kitten.  
  
“ _I don’t understand_.” McCree had a horrible accent, but the Japanese crash course left him proficient enough to give plausible deniability in this situation. Hanzo didn’t look so convinced, his hair sliding off his shoulders as he tilted his head. He still looked pissed, but Hanzo was a good half-a-head shorter than McCree, it made it difficult for McCree to view him as an actual threat even if McCree had seen him take out his own guards in training matches.

“ _Then why were you recording my position on your phone_?” Hanzo’s eyes had a fierce quality to them and they felt deep like McCree could fall into them.

“ _What_?” McCree honestly missed most of the question, Hanzo spoke so fast that McCree could only sort of handle translating in his head. Japanese being the third language he’d crammed into it, he struggled going from Japanese, to English, and then into Spanish in an attempt to process. Hanzo groaned and rolled his eyes.

“ _I know you were watching us—_ ” Hanzo stopped dead, glancing out at the crowd beyond McCree and then taking a step closer to McCree. McCree tried to draw back, but Hanzo grabbed him with a decent amount of force, holding him with his back against the wall and taking one of McCree’s arms, setting it on Hanzo’s shoulder so McCree’s arm blocked Hanzo’s face from the view of the crowd. “ _Stay still._ ”

“What the fuck are you doin’?” McCree glanced at his arm, picking up that the way he’d been positioned hid Hanzo’s face from view of the street, meaning that the bodyguards who’d been following him up until now wandered past without even noticing them. Hanzo peered over McCree’s arm and then let him go.

“ _I guess the reason you were following us doesn’t matter. I need a distraction, come with me._ ”  Hanzo said hooked his arm under McCree’s, tugging him along into the street and acting rather normal for someone who had just accused McCree of following him.

“ _I don’t understand. Where are you taking me_?” McCree grumbled, Hanzo trapped him, latching onto McCree hard, one arm looped through McCree’s and his hand tight on McCree’s bicep before Hanzo lead him back onto the busy street. McCree still needed to get away or find a way to hide the fact that he’d followed Hanzo and his guards around all day, with Hanzo clinging to him like this, most of his options involved making a big scene, which he couldn’t risk.

“ _Calm down. I am only using you since they didn’t notice you before. Even if you are a garish American, they obviously aren’t paying attention to your presence_.” Hanzo dragged McCree through the crowd, pulling him onto a side street as McCree tried his hardest to translate what he’d said this time.

“ _Excuse me, but stop._ ” McCree managed to wrangle his arm back, mostly because Hanzo actually let it go now that they weren’t on such a busy street and had turned a corner onto a quiet side street. “ _First of all, I’m Mexican, thank you. Second, what is going on_?”

“ _I’m not sure what you just said, you were talking rather fast. If you want to know what’s going on, you can stay, but otherwise I am no longer in need of your service._ ” Hanzo quick-turned, leaving McCree blinking and trying to parse out what he’d said again, but it wasn’t worth it. He shot a text to Reyes, so he would know McCree had not permanently lost them and followed Hanzo. A lie wouldn’t hurt Commander Reyes, he didn’t need to know that McCree had actually accompanied Hanzo rather than followed him to wherever the hell Hanzo needed to go. Either way, this seemed better than lurking around following this boy from place to place trying not to get caught doing it. “ _What are you doing in Japan_?”

“ _Work_.” McCree said and Hanzo hummed, leading the way to a convenience store. Honestly, McCree earnestly thought this trip would lead to something more sinister than picking up soda and chips. Hanzo made quick work of it, purchasing a good deal of candy and other snacks before bowing respectfully to the owner. “ _Jeez. How old are you_?” McCree had a sweet tooth, but honestly he couldn’t believe all the shit Hanzo had just bought.

“ _Twenty_.”

McCree paused, counting on his fingers for a moment as he tried to comprehend the quick Japanese. He shook his head, muttering to himself as he followed close behind Hanzo.

“ _Twenty_?” McCree couldn’t believe this beautiful young… boy was a man? He looked like a teen, either way, his perspective changed fast.

“ _Yes, twenty_.” Hanzo spun on his heels and it clicked with McCree that this part of town had buildings much older than the rest of Hanamura, his eyes going up to the high wall next to them until he felt two hands on his chest. Hanzo pushed him lightly. McCree’s eyes darted down to this man again, this handsome, attractive, man. He had to shake that thought off hard, because the last thing he needed to do is the mental backflip it took to leave him thinking that hooking up with someone he was supposed to be tailing was a good idea. That had to stop, immediately.

“ _Uh, uhm, sorry_.” McCree backed up a step, “ _what are you_?”

A basket fell between them, it had a rope attached to it, and when McCree looked up, there was a young boy, this one was definitely a young boy, a teenager, maybe sixteen or seventeen at the most. He hung himself part of the way out the window, his hands on the sill, waiting for Hanzo to give him the signal to pull the basket back up. Genji Shimada, Hanzo’s younger brother and the most logical guess that McCree had to explain this kid, waved and called down to Hanzo.

“ _Who’s the foreigner_?” Genji leaned on his elbows now, not pulling the basket up and instead of watching the two of them. McCree turned up to him again, scowling and pushing his hat back.

“ _My name is McCree, thank you._ ” He settled his hands on his hips, and Genji startled a bit. Genji’s panic made it pretty obvious he’d assumed McCree couldn’t speak Japanese. It actually, earned a laugh from Hanzo too, which made it far more worth it. He couldn’t really do much else about Hanzo’s nice laugh but enjoy it and try to ignore just how nice it made McCree feel.

“ _Pull the basket up, Genji._ ” Hanzo said and Genji followed his instructions. As soon as Genji had the basket in the window, Hanzo looked directly at McCree and politely bowed his head, somehow tinging the whole motion with sarcasm. “ _Thank you for your help, cowman._ ”

“ _It’s_ _cow-boy_.” McCree said it before he realized how lame it sounded, he’d said it in English at least, but the chance that Hanzo didn’t understand got crushed by the way Hanzo laughed, he definitely understood what McCree had said.

“ _I apologize._ Cow-Boy _._ ” Hanzo said it in a really thick and honestly terrible American accent, mimicking McCree’s own. Before McCree could even protest Hanzo mocking him, Hanzo scaled the wall, climbing through the window to join his brother.

McCree gaped at the window a while. He’d lost them again. Sighing, he stuck another cigarette in his mouth, taking a drag as he headed back towards his tiny apartment. He pressed his hat down on his head, grumbling to himself as he made more notes on what Hanzo had done before McCree stopped at a store to purchase something to eat on the way.

He had to admit, the convenience stores in Japan quickly made a place in his heart. They sold food that was so much better than anything he’d ever gotten at an American convenience store, so once he had his fair share of uniquely flavored kit-kats and a bunch of rice balls, he returned to the apartment that Overwatch had provided him. Equally strange, he was basically the only one on this job. Reyes was around somewhere in Japan, but as far as McCree knew, Reyes wasn’t in Hanamura. McCree had begun to think this surveillance gig might just be busy work.  

McCree made a meal of rice balls, kit-kats, and beer before he passed out on the bed he’d insisted he got. He didn’t like the idea of sleeping on a floor the entire time he was there, it sounded like a recipe for a bad back to him and it truly seemed like this surveillance might last a while from what Reyes had said.

The next few days went on without a single sighting of either of the Shimada boys. It finally hit a point that McCree snuck himself into their compound. Once he’d settled himself down with a pair of binoculars, he figured out why he probably hadn’t seen anyone in a few days. It looked like some kind of ceremony, or guests, or people…. There was something going on. That’s what mattered, and the two brothers, although McCree had actually been assigned Hanzo, both looked bored as all hell watching whatever the adults were doing.

It felt like McCree watched nothing for a good thirty minutes, and the only real movement to come out of it, was a split second conversation between Hanzo and his father, Hanzo looking up towards where McCree had himself hidden. Then, he got up and walked away, almost like he snuck out of the area. McCree just frowned, confused as he continued to watch Genji and his father for what felt like forever, they weren’t even moving, just watching the people in front of them talk.

He sighed, starting to crawl away until a shadow crept over him. McCree slowly looked up, a rather passive looking Hanzo in the window McCree has stationed himself in. He didn’t have time to process the fact that he had climbed at least four flights of stairs to get into this tower and Hanzo had just come through the window at him. Hanzo was too quick, jumping on top of McCree and pushing him flat onto the ground.

“ _Shit._ ” McCree tried to get away, but Hanzo slapped a hand over McCree’s mouth, shushing him and frowning.

“ _Are you stupid_?  _The reflection from those things gave you away_.” Hanzo smacked the binoculars and admonished McCree for a while longer in Japanese, crossing his arms and huffing when he finished. “ _You are lucky my father sent me_.”

“ _Uh, what’s the supposed to mean_?” McCree said it as soon as Hanzo let go of his face, rolling his eyes at McCree.

“ _Isn’t it obvious? The Yakuza is not known for taking trespassers alive_.” Hanzo waved for McCree to follow him, and McCree really didn't have a reason not to. Hanzo was the person that he was supposed to be tailing and even if Hanzo rubbed McCree the wrong way sometimes, he was at least nice to look at. Though he noted the apparent Yakuza family home he’d found himself in. He wasn't sure how he was going to slip that information into the report without acknowledging how it had been ascertained, but it was important. Reyes would have his ass if he found out McCree had gotten caught watching them.

“ _Where are you taking me_?” McCree followed a cautious Hanzo down the stairs of the surprisingly unguarded tower.

“ _Out of my house._ ” Hanzo, oddly enough, didn't even sound annoyed. He acted more like he'd caught his younger brother somewhere he shouldn't be, rather than finding some rogue agent watching him. He did pause at every corner, checking to make sure there weren’t guards nearby. If there was someone, he'd press his finger to his lips at McCree and make them take a few steps backward to ensure they weren't seen. Once the cost cleared, he’d continue to lead McCree through all the winding passages until they landed on the other side of the main gate after taking a back way to what McCree could only call a sky bridge. “You should be more careful if you are going to try to sneak around the house full of ninjas.”

“ _Did you just say ninja_?” McCree looked back the way they’d came, but now he refocused on Hanzo. He’d memorized it, but he wanted to continue to play dumb with Hanzo. Which wasn’t difficult, Hanzo already seemed to have a low opinion of him. When McCree looked back at Hanzo though, his sharp eyes narrowed at McCree and he swiped the binoculars out of McCree’s hand.

“ _Don’t act stupid_ ,” Hanzo slipped McCree’s binoculars into his robes and frowned, “ _You should focus on tasks other than following us around_.” McCree frowned, holding his hand out to Hanzo and shaking it a bit.

“ _Fine. But give those back. I’ll get in trouble if I lose them._ ” McCree watched as Hanzo simply smirked at him and then scaled back up the wall they’d come down.

“ _Maybe if you tell me why you’re following us around. Or is it just me?_ ” Hanzo hummed and turned to walk back into the compound while McCree just watched him go.

“ _God fucking dammit._ ” McCree turned to head back to his tiny apartment and eat convenience store food and hope Reyes didn’t do a uniform check anytime soon. He kicked a can on the ground as he walked, heading into an alley and letting himself get lost on his way back. He paused at a back alley sushi place, having seen it once or twice before and never stopped. It was quiet, and the man behind the counter gave him a rather strange look, but at least McCree got some tuna out of it.

When he got home, he spread himself out on the bed and spent the time writing reports, hoping that Reyes wouldn’t catch anything too weird about any of it. He left out the binoculars and fell asleep until it was late enough that there weren’t many places open for him to get something to eat. The plod to the convenience store didn’t take much time, and after a mildly demeaning conversation with the owner about his hat, and then he headed right back to the apartment.

He got about halfway back when he caught onto someone following him. McCree certainly wasn’t happy, he hadn’t strapped Peacekeeper to himself before he left. His footsteps got lighter, keeping a steady, unsuspicious pace, and placed a hand on one of his disguised flash grenades. Honestly, he stuck out like a sore thumb, so he couldn’t say if some the Yakuza guys were after him, or if someone just thought an obvious foreigner would make an easy target. Either way, McCree didn’t like it.

“ _So you aren’t an idiot_.” Hanzo seemed to give up on hiding himself as soon as McCree had started moving differently. “You could tell I was here right away.” McCree spun to find Hanzo looking bored, his arms folded and his hands deep in his sleeves. “ _So is this what you do? Follow people around and then get upset when they do it back to you_.”

“ _Okay, listen_ ,” McCree took three steps towards Hanzo, his index finger out like his mom used to do to him, “ _this isn’t a game. Quit fucking with me like this is–_ ”

Hanzo didn’t look scared, totally unfazed by McCree stepping into his space or getting angry, even if McCree loomed over him and probably had at least fifty pounds on Hanzo. He just, wasn’t scared at all.

Until they both turned to a noise at the end of the alley, and then some scattered Japanese followed. Hanzo’s whole demeanor changed, his body bristled and he pushed McCree back a step and gave him a look of nervous desperation. “ _That is all well and good_ ,” Hanzo said, “ _but please, I have to go._ ”

McCree very slowly looked Hanzo over, and when he stopped, he looked up at the man puttering around the corner of the alley, Hanzo pushing him back another step. The bodyguards again, obviously Hanzo had given them the slip. Realistically, McCree didn’t need to help Hanzo. Hanzo had been nothing but mysterious or annoying since McCree had met him.

But McCree also had a soft spot for anyone who got that look on their face like all they desperately wanted to dodge a beating from a parent. He swore, spun on his heels and grabbed Hanzo’s sleeve, pulling him along a strange alleyway and then jogged back, using a different route to go around the bodyguards. Hanzo wasn’t complaining, he silently followed McCree, looking over his shoulder the whole time. When they reached McCree’s apartment, McCree led him slowly around the side, only to have to drag Hanzo in with him when he spotted the bodyguards turning down the same street.

“ _You sure ain’t a good luck charm_ ,” McCree said with a sigh as Hanzo stared him down in the small hallway of his apartment. “ _Come on, come inside, I have beer_.”

McCree took his shoes off by the door, keeping an eye on Hanzo as he followed McCree into the small space. Luckily, McCree had settled a coffee table in front of the TV so he could lean on the bed while he wrote reports. So he grabbed the laptop off of that, set it on the bed and almost had a passable living room. He set the food on the table, grabbing two cans of beer from his tiny fridge and offered one to Hanzo as he sat down across from the TV.

“ _Thank you_.” Hanzo didn’t really say much else, just sat next to McCree and took the beer while McCree set out food. McCree did take note that Hanzo looked around the room like a kid in a candy store for some reason, but he left it be. “ _I have never been inside an apartment building like this_.”

“ _Well, welcome to my Americanized version_ ,” McCree said. Hanzo made a face when he said Americanized which got a chuckle out of McCree. “ _Don’t look so offended. You were the one who needed saving._ ”

“ _I thought you said you were Mexican_ ,” Hanzo huffed, opening his beer delicately and sipping at it. “ _Why did you help me_?”

“I _’m both_.” McCree shrugged, which seemed to annoy Hanzo so he added, “ _seemed like the right thing to do_.”

“ _So the stalker has morals_?” Hanzo looked pretty pleased with himself for that comment. That or he liked the look McCree shot him after it came out of Hanzo’s mouth.

“I ain’t-,” McCree took a deep breath, “ _I’m not stalking you_.”

“ _You were watching my every move. It is either stalking or surveillance, either way_ ,” Hanzo sipped at his beer, relaxing more against the bed, a gap between his robe and his shoulder from the way he hunched up. McCree’s eyes followed the line of his collarbone leisurely now that it was completely exposed.

“ _Why are you always in traditional clothes_?” McCree hoped he could change the subject that easily. Hanzo didn’t look interested in the conversation at all, he just looked boredly at his robes. But something else came through his body language, a twinge, the way he swallowed his next sip wasn’t quite right and his demeanor wasn’t quite as cocky as usual.

“ _They are befitting of the eldest son of a high profile clan such as the Shimada_.” Hanzo avoided making eye contact with McCree, almost pointedly so. Hanzo seemed unwilling to change that anytime soon, despite McCree trying his hardest to make eye contact. “Y _ou are not getting away with changing the subject, though_.”

McCree sighed, letting his head fall back on his bed as he took a swig from his can. It was probably not a good idea to reveal his status as an Overwatch agent told to observe his activities. Although, the more he thought about it, the more he wondered why Hanzo needed observation at all, especially not when McCree could be following Hanzo’s father.

“ _Do you even have anything to do with the criminal operations of your clan?_ ” McCree asked, shifting to look at Hanzo.

“ _I do not know what criminal activities you speak of_.” Hanzo seemed to stick his nose in the air, sitting up straighter as he did it. McCree sort of wanted to hit him in the face for it, his frustration at a point that he couldn’t really handle it anymore.

“ _Well fine, I won’t answer any of your questions truthfully if you’re going to lie to me_ ,” McCree said. Hanzo gave him a look and shrugged at McCree, shallow and quick. He really didn’t seem to care at all if he ever got an answer from McCree. Obviously, he just liked asking the question and having the upper hand. A long pause hit them, both of them sipping at their beer as they avoided looking at each other and instead stared at the TV. It wasn’t even on.

“ _I guess I was hoping you’d tell me you were an admirer_ ,” Hanzo said. McCree felt like he had whiplash from turning his head so fast. Hanzo tipped his head to one side, seeming to muse in the direction of the TV for a moment, his hair falling over his back slowly. Just for a moment, a single moment, McCree let himself think about how effortlessly good-looking Hanzo really could be. High cheekbones, a strong jaw, his eyes intense and sharp and that nice brown color. McCree stared and Hanzo’s smile went from playful to smug in about half a second. “ _I should be able to get back without them seeing me. Thank you for your help_.”

McCree gawked, he couldn’t do much else as Hanzo set the binoculars down on the table next to his empty beer can and headed for the door. He would be in serious trouble if he let this go anywhere, but fuck if he could get some action out of this training-wheels mission, he just might take advantage. What Reyes didn't know won't hurt him.

“ _Ah, and, stay out of my house_.” Hanzo added as he put on his shoes, “you’re not subtle. I'll see you tomorrow.” Hanzo bowed a tiny bit before he turned and left the room, leaving McCree alone and desperate to unpack what the fuck all just came out of Hanzo’s mouth just now. He settled back against the side of his bed and stared a moment, letting a smile creep over his face.

Hanzo frustrated McCree, yeah, but that didn't mean he wasn't attractive, and McCree wondered how much of that annoying attitude was an attempt at flirting. If McCree could read this situation right, then maybe this would work out just fine for him in the long run. He could maybe even get out of this mission early if he got the right information. Two birds with one stone, and always better than sitting around and watching Hanzo’s every move.

Needless to say, McCree passed out feeling pretty good that night, his body heavy, but his demeanor light for the first time in a while. He woke up pretty early, so McCree made himself food and got dressed looking like a civilian. He didn't go near Hanzo’s house, instead, he found himself near the stretch of restaurants and shops that Hanzo turned up near pretty often, always with his guards though.

McCree had a cigarette in his mouth when he felt a hand on his shoulder and then Hanzo slipped his hat from his head. “Just a moment,” Hanzo mumbled, leaning in close with the hat covering their faces, “d _o not take advantage of this_.” McCree made a face, but Hanzo got up on his toes, their faces close enough they could easily kiss, but McCree respected what Hanzo had said. He made the move just to keep the bodyguards at bay from what McCree had gathered about Hanzo so far. It seemed like often Hanzo’s intentions lied in hiding from his bodyguards.

“ _Are you sure you want to ditch them again_?” McCree managed to peek around the side of the hat, watching the bodyguards head back towards Hanzo’s home. They looked oddly defeated, McCree guessed there’d be no chasing that day, which would be ideal for whatever McCree had going on with Hanzo, but he did worry. Would it really be worth it for Hanzo to take a beating for a date?

“ _This is important enough_.” Hanzo had such a severity in his voice, that McCree may have misinterpreted Hanzo’s intentions. He didn’t believe that this could mean that much to Hanzo, so McCree looked back down at him and scanned his face.

“ _They’re gone. What’s so important_?” McCree asked as Hanzo set the hat back on his head and backed off entirely, heading out of the alleyway quickly. “ _Wait, hey, where are you going_?”

“ _You don’t have to come with this time_.” Hanzo slipped his hands into his sleeves and walked down the street without much regard to McCree trying to keep up. McCree sort of knew he should just follow Hanzo to see if he did anything weird or new. That mystery thing again, it had McCree sort of hooked on this angry looking boy who seemed to be hiding a lot of the secrets of a family that he didn’t even like. At least, McCree had read it like that.

“ _I’m curious now. You’re stuck with me_.” McCree slipped his hands in the pockets of his jacket, moving his head to tip his hat back as they made their way down the busy street and onto a street crowded with students in uniform.

This didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but McCree followed Hanzo onto the school grounds and down a short path to what McCree could only call a gym. When they slipped inside, Hanzo bowed gently and slipped off his shoes, tucking them into a cubby and taking the slippers provided by the school. McCree followed suit, following Hanzo’s lead seemed like the best idea since McCree didn’t know all of the cultural rules.

He then followed Hanzo over to a corner, sitting down on his knees next to Hanzo with a group of other people who looked like parents more than anything. A cluster of students sat in the corner in traditional robes, one of which noticed the two of them right away. Genji, glancing at his instructor and then taking a moment to wave at Hanzo excitedly. It clicked into place about then, a sports competition.

“ _This is kendo? Correct?_ ” McCree asked softly, figuring it best to keep his voice hushed as the competition began. Hanzo nodded just a bit, his eyes trained on the two students beginning to square up with the referee in the middle, their swords out in front of them. “ _Is your brother good at it?_ ”

“ _Does that matter? It is a high school sports club_.” Hanzo kept himself very still as he watched the match, the two high schoolers going at each other with quite a bit of intensity. McCree hummed, just watching the match for a moment.

“ _Well, I never really went to high school, so I wouldn’t know._ ” McCree found his hands settling on his thighs the way the students who were waiting for their turn had theirs. It felt sort of natural when he was sitting on his knees, although, if they stayed there very long, McCree might have to move to cross-legged. Otherwise, his legs would be so stiff he’d never be able to move again.

Hanzo glanced at him, taking McCree in for a moment before he turned back to the match as well. “ _I guess that is fair then. I wouldn’t have known either if Genji hadn’t decided to go to high school._ ”

“Y _ou didn’t go either_?” McCree glanced at Hanzo and Hanzo shook his head. He looked briefly at McCree his eyes fluttering back to the match as it ended, but came right back to McCree’s face.

“ _I was tutored at home. I convinced them they should let Genji go to school_.” Hanzo’s hand tightened around his robe a bit, and McCree decided that he wasn’t going to ask any more questions about this. Especially because Genji stood up next, sending them a quick look, but he definitely looked at Hanzo more than McCree.

The match didn’t last long. Genji won so fast that McCree felt sort of bad for the other kid, but he seemed fine, better once he’d sat back down with his teammates. Hanzo watched another match before he looked at McCree and snuck out, so McCree followed him. They weren’t the first to do it, many of the parents seemed to stay just for their kid’s match. Unlike them, Hanzo stopped near the gym and settled in a spot hidden from the view of the street.

“ _I am going to wait for Genji. You still don’t have to stay_.” Hanzo shifted his feet, looking around the grounds of the high school. He didn’t seem entirely comfortable there. In McCree’s opinion, Hanzo’s dedication to staying at the school was admirable, but he wasn’t going to outright say that to him.

“ _I can wait with you,_ ” McCree said, “ _I think at this point, I might actually owe you some kind of explanation._ ” Hanzo perked up, his eyes wide and curious, so McCree shook his head slightly. “ _Not here, and I don’t want your brother to hear._ ”

Hanzo pouted and sighed. “ _Fine, but I was mostly pressuring you to tell me to ensure that you weren’t honestly a stalker. Clearly, you are here monitoring my family’s activity, which has become unsurprising for me._ ”

“ _I am not monitoring your family,_ ” McCree said, and for his luck, Genji came bounding out of the gym about then, already rambling and looking for his brother’s approval, so despite Hanzo looking like he wanted to push the conversation, he had to leave it be.

“ _You’re Hanzo’s American friend, right? It’s nice to meet you, my name is Genji_.” Genji bowed to McCree, so McCree bowed back politely.

“ _Jesse McCree, it’s nice to meet you too_ ,” he said. Hanzo looked at him carefully after he’d said it, so McCree smiled at him real big. He hadn’t given Hanzo his name before, but McCree didn’t really mind him having it. For right now, it seemed like Hanzo wasn’t a threat to him, and McCree wondered more if he was supposed to be finding an ally as opposed to prepping an assassination.

Genji chattered the entire walk back to their house, and even if it created a wall between Hanzo and McCree’s conversation, Hanzo didn’t seem to mind. He watched his brother fondly and when Genji said something about how Hanzo talked about McCree, Hanzo would bark at him to get him to stop. Genji laughed harder every time that Hanzo got worked up though.  It was, everything McCree had never had from his older brother, and though he could bury that feeling easily, he felt a twinge of jealousy anyway.

When they got back to the house, Hanzo and Genji naturally led them around to the back, where McCree had first watched Hanzo scale the wall after giving Genji a basket full of candy. Hanzo told Genji to head up first, which ended in a small amount of bickering, but eventually, Genji scaled the wall the same way Hanzo had. McCree kind of wanted to ask Hanzo to teach him how to do that, but it would probably take far too long.

“ _Are you going to keep following me if I figure out what you’re up to_?” Hanzo kept his voice low, and as the sun went down behind him, McCree could only guess Hanzo must have taken a liking to him. McCree smiled, lowering his eyes enough for Hanzo to blush and grumble.

Hanzo crossed his arms, his eyes still on anything but McCree. “ _Listen, you are the one who has been following me around. It’s my choice whether I want to know why_.”

“ _But you’re not going to want to know if it means I won’t be hanging around anymore_?” McCree asked, enjoying the way Hanzo squirmed and huffed softly. That angry kitten thing could be pretty cute. He liked Hanzo’s dedication to Genji too, and though Hanzo hadn’t been trying to get sultry with him, McCree enjoyed how the night had turned out. Maybe it was stupid considering his mission, and maybe he was totally off the mark, but at the very least, he could be Hanzo’s friend. He needed one obviously.

“ _That is not what I said._ ” Hanzo glanced up at McCree and frowned. “ _Either way, I imagine you’re going to continue to be cagey about this._ ”

“ _Are you calling me a liar_?” McCree chuckled, his smile got wider. He couldn’t help it, because Hanzo smiled too. More subtle, but Hanzo smiled, and McCree was proud of himself for it.

“ _Yes, but in a good way._ ” Hanzo paused and smiled at him, more directly this time, “ _I’ll see you tomorrow, cowboy_.” He didn’t bite down on cowboy strangely this time, it came out smooth. And just like that, Hanzo climbed up the wall the same way Genji had. McCree had gotten used to that, and he had gotten used to Hanzo too, which felt sort of nice considering he’d spent his last year or so around nothing but old men. And well, Ana, but she acted like his mom and Fareeha more like a younger sister than anything.

While he turned to head home, he spent some time mulling over the reasons Overwatch needed surveillance on someone who seemed as benign as Hanzo. Even with the Yakuza ties, it didn’t seem like Hanzo did much other than hiding from his Dad and ditching his bodyguards. It occurred to McCree that the nature of getting money for Overwatch sometimes resulted in weird jobs. Like watching the son of a Yakuza clan lord as extra security for him without either party really knowing.

McCree really didn’t care after a while though. He had to refuse if Gabe told him to kill Hanzo, obviously, but he had a gut feeling that wasn’t what Reyes wanted. If Hanzo was some kind of separate asset to Overwatch, he could be trying to covertly convince Hanzo to join up. Which, McCree had to admit, made a nice day-dream. It might work out that way if he could confidently say Hanzo would leave Genji, because it certainly didn’t seem like Hanzo would let his brother fall into the hands of their family.

He wandered to a ramen stand near his apartment, getting a large bowl and sitting down as he recorded more of Hanzo’s movements for his reports, saying he followed him to a high school kendo competition and implying that this surveillance job had gotten mildly embarrassing at this point,  just to make the whole thing more real for Reyes. McCree didn’t even need to send him any of this for another few days, it wasn’t really going to change anything. Ultimately, Reyes wasn’t going to tell him to do anything and it would turn out that this whole training exercise had absolutely nothing but annoying. Well, way less annoying if he got to know Hanzo more.

McCree got back in his apartment by the time it was getting dark out, his hat tossed on the bed and his TV on. He had beer again, but he wasn’t really interested in drinking himself into a stupor. Instead, he started to fiddle with his equipment, cleaning and greasing Peacekeeper and then checking out the binoculars to make sure Hanzo hadn’t done anything to them. After that, he lazily counted bullets, took inventory, and re-hid stuff that needed to stay out of sight before reorganizing his room. It wasn’t a lot of space, and he wasn’t sure how long he’d be there, but he had nothing better to do.

It had been maybe two hours when a frantatic knocking startled him out of reorganizing his duffel bag. He had a single guess as to who he’d find on his doorstep, but he did not expect the brownish bruise covering a good chunk of the right half of Hanzo’s face. It looked like a swift backhand, and Hanzo looked shaken in a way McCree hadn’t seen him, but he could hear the bodyguards in the distance meaning that they had managed to keep on Hanzo’s tail for once.

“ _Get behind the bed_ ,” McCree said and Hanzo didn’t hesitate to follow instruction. McCree then grabbed the bag of trash he’d gathered and left by the door, picking it up and closing the door to his apartment behind him as he shuffled into the hallway, just in time for the bodyguards to appear. McCree acted surprised, the three of them grumbling to each other about chasing a child and this and that. McCree didn’t really care what they had to say.

“ _Hey, have you seen a kid around? In his twenties, probably in robes and long hair._ ” One of them shuffled at McCree, trying to look intimidating, but McCree just shrunk back and looked as confused as possible.

“ _I-I’m sorry, I’m just a foreign exchange student. I don’t know the language well yet,_ ” McCree bowed politely and apologized again and they got out of his face in a moment, the guards grumbled and shuffled around, letting McCree pass with his trash. He quickly disposed of the bag, watched them all leave and then went back upstairs.

When he opened the door, Hanzo stood waiting on the other side of the bed. “I _heard them leave, but I wasn’t sure…._ ”

“ _It’s fine. Are you okay_?” McCree opened his tiny fridge and pulled out a penguin-shaped ice pack. He wrapped it in a paper towel and offered it to Hanzo, but Hanzo seemed too out of sorts to notice. He stared at the door anxiously, until McCree gently pressed the ice pack on his face for him. Hanzo twitched, taking a second to lean into the ice pack and take it from McCree to hold it there himself.

“ _Fine_ ,” Hanzo mumbled as he moved towards the coffee table and sat down on his knees on the floor.

“ _What happened_?” McCree could guess that he wasn’t fine, he didn’t really need or want to push that further. He couldn’t do anything to help if Hanzo decided McCree wasn’t on his side either. He sat down next to Hanzo, moving slowly and making sure he kept his hands in Hanzo’s line of sight.

“ _I got into an argument with my father about leaving the clan house without the guards_ ,” Hanzo was staring at the table.

“ _So you ran off without your bodyguards again_?” McCree’s dry tone might have been too much. When Hanzo turned on McCree, his hands balling into fists and a growl coming from him, McCree knew he’d fucked up.

“ _I am an adult. I shouldn’t have to deal with him trying to control my every move._ ” Hanzo bit down on every word hard and he shook with rage. McCree held his hands up in defense, and Hanzo to relaxed, falling forward on himself. He must have decided that McCree wasn’t the enemy here. “ _I should be able to go to my brother’s high school without anyone worrying about whether I am able to protect myself._ ”

McCree hummed softly. “ _I don’t disagree with you. Is Genji okay_?”

Hanzo took a deep breath, sitting himself up. He’d moved from anger to looking like he might be trying not to cry. “ _He is with our mother. That should be enough._ ”

“ _Your Dad isn’t going to try to force him to tell him who you might be with? He wouldn’t give you away, right?_ ” McCree asked. Hanzo looked offended briefly, though it watered down fairly fast as he thought about McCree’s question and shook his head.

“ _Genji wouldn’t give me away for anything. Not even if our father made him leave school._ ” Hanzo looked defeated, rubbing his face and carefully touching the bruise with delicate fingers. McCree had never really noticed it, but they were covered in calluses, he could only imagine what from, probably the climbing. “ _Besides he has no idea where you live, even if he knows I am with you, our father doesn’t accept half information. Genji knows better than to give him something that’s completely useless._ ”

McCree nodded and then shifted in his spot so he could look at Hanzo more directly, “ _I’m sorry about your shitty dad. Do you want to stay here tonight_?”

Hanzo clearly blushed, looked straight at McCree and then diverted his eyes away from him so fast. McCree hadn’t meant to imply anything, but he also couldn’t help thinking it nice that Hanzo’s head went there. Once Hanzo had collected himself, and put on that that air of false-confidence he had, he nodded slightly and mumbled, “ _Please._ ”

“ _Do you want more comfortable clothes_?” McCree was already standing up, wandering over to the duffel bag he had on the floor that he was living out of. Most of the civilian clothes he actually had used to belong to either Gabe or Jack, which meant they were all terrible. The few things he wore regularly all belonged to Gabe when he was younger and were still a tiny bit insufferable.

“ _Do you have a shower here_?” Hanzo peered at McCree over the bed now, sitting straight up to do it. McCree nodded, and pointed to the bathroom door before he tossed the clothes to Hanzo. Just mesh shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt, all he could really offer, but the shirt was at least some old band shirt that had been Gabe’s and now was his and it was probably one of the least terrible clothing items he owned.

Hanzo still looked mildly baffled by the clothes, but he thanked McCree and slipped into the bathroom without much other noise. He stayed in there for a good while, but McCree could safely say he didn’t blame him. He understood the feeling of standing with the water beating down on you and just dissociating. McCree didn’t expect that Hanzo had spent a good amount of time toweling off his hair before he came out of the bathroom because he’d gotten it mostly dry by the time he was out.

He then very deftly re-tied his hair in a high ponytail instead of keeping down like he normally did. It made him look entirely different honestly, not like a girl in any way despite the length of his hair. Hanzo still had a strong jaw and his features were all too sharp for that, but getting to see his face unframed stuck McCree, and he got caught in staring. McCree didn’t even manage to stop when Hanzo let go of his hair and frowned at McCree.

“ _What_?” Hanzo asked. He looked so different, McCree couldn’t stop staring when he’d been called out either, so instead, he shook his head and blinked to force himself to stop.

“ _You look a lot different._ ” It wasn’t a lie after all. Hanzo just grimaced at McCree and sat back down next to him, running his fingers through the ends of his hair. The t-shirt also made him look far more like a twenty-something, in a way that McCree really liked. Sort of a reminder that they weren’t that different in age.

“ _Quit staring at me_.” Hanzo frowned at McCree again, “ _Americans are so obnoxiously open about everything_.”

McCree laughed and shrugged. “ _Well, ya’ ain’t wrong_ ,” he said, “ _Sorry. I’m just used to you being in those robes all the time._ ”

Hanzo seemed to concede, sighing slightly as he looked at McCree. “ _I know, I guess that is fair._ ”

“ _Wait, why are you in a kimono at all times? Genji too? Is that a clan thing._ ” McCree thought a moment, the bodyguards always wore nice suits. Hanzo looked annoyed briefly and then glanced at the robes he’d left hanging in the bathroom.

“ _It is all I am allowed to have. Genji as well, although, he has a school uniform now._ ” Hanzo crossed his arms and leaned back on the bed, for once he wasn’t sitting on his knees, it felt odd how relaxed he looked in McCree’s tiny apartment. Before he’d left the States, he’d been briefed about how guests would be overly formal when they were in someone else’s home in Japan. But maybe it was just because Hanzo thought of McCree like a friend.

“ _That’s–_ ” McCree didn’t get to finish, Hanzo glanced at him and frowned.

“ _Trust me, I know what you are going to say. I do not need your pity._ ” Hanzo had that pissed kitten look on his face again.

“ _I was going to say it was a shame since these look better on you._ ” As soon as it rolled out of McCree’s mouth, Hanzo’s face turned bright pink, his mouth hanging open slightly. It took a good few seconds before he really reacted, eventually turning away from McCree again and huffing.

“ _Fine, I shouldn’t have assumed._ ” Hanzo crossed his arms and looked straight at McCree’s door and if McCree had a good guess as to why, it was because the door was in the exact opposite direction as McCree.

“ _Are you feeling better at least_?” McCree leaned on the bed, his hand running through the front of his hair to shake it out again. It got kind of flat from being under his hat all day. Hanzo turned back to him, slow, and he sort of had a somber look on his face.

“ _I am not sure that I can go back, but I am okay._ ” Hanzo ran a hand over the mesh shorts and bit his lip. “ _I have never left after something like that. I have never had anywhere I could go_.”

McCree bit the inside of his cheek, trying his hardest to draw blood he was so mad, but he knew he had to contain it. Telling Hanzo to just say fuck his family and leave wasn’t really going to work, so he let go and relaxed, trying to find the best way to word his next few sentences. “I’m sure he will let you go back if you want to go. You’re the eldest, right?”

Hanzo looked sad for a moment and then glanced at McCree, his eyes watery in a way that he felt like Hanzo might actually start crying this time. “I could not leave Genji alone with him.” His voice got tight and his jaw locked as he said it, but it only lasted a moment. Hanzo took a deep breath and relaxed, his hand squeezing around his shirt slightly and releasing with a flick of his fingers.

“ _When I was fourteen_ ,” McCree began, It was enough to get Hanzo to look at him again. “ _I was living out in the desert on a ranch, but I’d gone out somewhere on a horse, gotten lost, and wound up home after curfew. My mom locked the door and left me a blanket on the porch swing. There was a note that said I was an inconsiderate kid who could sleep outside._ ”

Hanzo stared at McCree, completely silent, but he nodded at some point. He seemed to want the rest of the story, so McCree cleared his throat and laughed nervously. “ _I took the blanket and slept in the horse barn because it was warmer there. It was the only place I could think to go, I probably would have frozen on the porch. But the next day, I walked in and sat down for breakfast and they treated me like nothing had happened._ ”

McCree stilled himself, not looking at Hanzo now, instead, he looked down at his hands and tried to process that whole thing over again. He had a roof over his head, he had Overwatch. He reminded himself of the things he had, slowly, in a short list, until he felt Hanzo’s cheek on his shoulder. His attention snapped back to the tiny apartment in Japan, and as he stared down at Hanzo and his eyes naturally followed the way his hair fell over his neck, McCree couldn’t help how much he wanted to touch him. He wanted to feel Hanzo’s hair, run his fingers over his shoulders, run his thumbs over his hips and keep Hanzo to himself forever.

“ _I am sorry about your shitty mom_ ,” Hanzo mumbled. McCree laughed softly, his whole demeanor slowing down and then he decided to throw every single care he had about this mission or whether he’d get rejected out the window, because he knew it would be worth it. He picked Hanzo’s head up and leaned down to pull Hanzo into a kiss. Hanzo, McCree was guessing based on reaction, froze for the first few seconds, but it didn’t take very long for Hanzo to sit up. He pressed into McCree more firmly, his arms going around McCree’s neck to keep him close.

When McCree pulled back he felt Hanzo try to follow his lips and McCree couldn’t help the smile he got on his face and he went back for a peck, but Hanzo had pulled away now. “I have to go home eventually.”

“ _It doesn’t have to be tonight._ ” McCree met Hanzo’s eyes. “ _Unless you want me to go with you and help you really disappoint your Dad._ ” Hanzo didn’t seem to catch it right away, but when he laughed and crawled into McCree’s lap, McCree knew that they weren’t going anywhere. They could christen Hanzo’s bed some other time, then.

It took about fifteen minutes for Hanzo to huff desperately and ask McCree to get on the bed and about half a second for McCree to press him into it. Hanzo made the prettiest noises, but all his movements were rough and digging into McCree. He held onto McCree like McCree might try to run away, so McCree just held onto Hanzo back and did his best to make Hanzo feel safe because that was all he had wanted from the start, he wanted Hanzo to feel safe there, with him.

When McCree got his hands under Hanzo’s shirt though, his fingers sliding it up and he let his nails drag just a bit on Hanzo’s skin, that got him to stop anxiously clinging, so McCree kept his hands on Hanzo, even as McCree peeled off the shirt, which was his, but Gabe’s, but now it Hanzo had it on. That all dropped out of his head as soon as he got it off though, Hanzo blushing and letting his mouth start to slide open in explanation for the full sleeve tattoo.

“ _That must have hurt_ ,” McCree said before Hanzo could even start to explain. Hanzo looked at him for a moment and then looked back at his arm.

“ _They gave me a lot of sake afterward, I don’t really remember_ ,” he mumbled, “Japanese people don’t usually like tattoos.”

McCree shrugged, “ _Americans don’t mind them. Most everyone has one, see_?” He rolled up his left sleeve to show Hanzo the Deadlock tattoo. McCree probably wouldn’t have shown it off like that to just anyone, but he had a feeling Hanzo’s tattoo was just as much a brand as McCree’s. Hanzo still seemed distracted, maybe worried that this would change McCree’s opinion of him too much, McCree didn’t really know for sure, but he had started to find the patterns in the way Hanzo got anxious.

He set his hand back on Hanzo’s chest, leaning down to press a kiss on his tattooed shoulder and that brought Hanzo back to what they’d been doing before McCree had taken his shirt off. His hands found their way back onto McCree’s arms, and the two of them fell into each other like they were normal twenty-somethings, like they’d met at a bar and were too obsessed and desperate to touch each other to even get drunk before they left. Even when Hanzo clung to him desperately and clawed at his shoulders, McCree couldn’t help but want to cling to Hanzo right back.


	2. Chapter 2

Hanzo rolled onto his stomach, sliding his hands under the pillow in front of him so he could move into a full body stretch. McCree watched Hanzo’s hair slide down his back, his face hidden in the pillow as he adjusted himself. There wasn’t much sun coming through the window, which meant that the morning hadn’t really hit yet. The room felt especially quiet, neither of them making a move to get out of bed. Instead, they both decided to cling to each other or pretend to fall back asleep. 

Now though, now Hanzo picked up McCree’s hat and set it on his own head, looking up at the brim with a hum. “ _ Why do you wear this? I thought Americans stopped dressing like this at some point. _ ” 

“ _ No one stopped wearing them, cowboy movies just aren’t popular anymore _ ,” McCree said and smiled when Hanzo turned to look up at him from under the hat. “ _ Plus they serve a purpose, they protect your face and neck from the sun when you’re out on the ranch all day _ .”

“ _ Couldn’t you wear a hat that looks less…. Dumb _ ?” Hanzo tapped the brim of the hat and before McCree could get mad, Hanzo’s lip turned into a smile and he started snickering to himself. 

“ _ Are you laughing at your own joke _ ?” McCree chuckled quietly, shifting to lay on the bed when Hanzo tried to hide under the hat, picking up the brim to peep at Hanzo. 

“ _ Maybe _ .” Hanzo moved the hat to McCree’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. “ _ It doesn’t look quite so dumb on you, I guess. _ ” 

“ _ I think it looks pretty nice on ya’. _ ” McCree chuckled when Hanzo’s cheeks turned pink and he pressed himself back into the pillow. His hair fell all over the place, but he didn’t seem to mind, too busy pouting and denying that the hat looked good on him. McCree just let him ramble, his hand gathering up Hanzo’s hair so he could run his fingers through the ends carefully while he listened. 

“ _ I have to go back soon _ .” Hanzo mumbled. It tore McCree out of his nice fantasy land where he got to play with Hanzo’s hair for the rest of his life. “ _ But maybe if I don’t, he’ll just keep treating Genji like his favorite child and he won’t start treating Genji like he treats me. _ ” 

Hanzo’s eyes fixed on the pillow in front of him, and his fingers fidgeted with the pillowcase nervously. He pressed his face back into the pillow when McCree moved to take his hat off. Once he’d set it down, McCree wrapped his arms around Hanzo, rolling him off his stomach so he could . 

“ _ You don’t have to go back today if you don’t want to. _ ” McCree pressed a gentle kiss to the nape of Hanzo’s neck. Hanzo just sighed and leaned into him, his hair falling onto McCree’s face as he did it. 

“ _ I know, but I don’t want Genji to get hur _ t.  _ Or to deal with him after disappearing for a day. _ ” Hanzo turned to run his fingers over the top of McCree’s head, and as McCree looked up at him, he could still see the faint bruise on Hanzo’s tired face. He looked like an old man whenever he talked about his family. It wasn’t right he didn’t get to be a kid, but there wasn’t a lot McCree could do about it now. 

“ _ Fine, but if you need to leave again you can come here. _ ” He knew he could provide Hanzo a safe space at least, he wished he could help both Hanzo and Genji step away. Protecting them both wouldn’t be easy, and McCree didn’t want to ask Hanzo how his father treated his mother. He knew sometimes the wives had it worse than the kids.

“ _ I know _ .  _ Thank you for that, Jesse _ .” Hanzo pressed a kiss on the top of McCree’s head and got up, stretching himself before heading for the bathroom. “ _ I am going to take another shower is that all right? _ ” 

“ _ Yeah, of course. _ ” McCree watched Hanzo’s back, the muscles straining as he paused to stretch them out again. He could clearly make out Hanzo’s shoulder blades and follow them down to the tense muscles just underneath. Hanzo had such a muscular body, but he always moved with grace that every small shift entranced McCree. 

He spent so much time with people like Gabe and Jack who pounded around like they didn’t care who or what they ran into. Hanzo moved more like Ana moved, still muscular, but careful and selective. But seeing it on someone else, someone as handsome and built as Hanzo, McCree ached bad for Hanzo in a way that he struggled to understand. He wanted to run his hands over every inch of skin on Hanzo, understand how the muscles moved underneath.

“ _ Are you listening? _ ” Hanzo looked up at him, frowning, his hand on the doorframe of the bathroom. 

“ _ Uh, yeah _ .” McCree was listening  _ now _ . 

“ _ Don’t lie. _ ” Hanzo smirked and shifted his weight to that he could spin around and head into the bathroom. “ _ But I suggested you could join me if you’d like to save some money on your water bill _ .” 

McCree was up. He didn’t bother to think about the fact that fitting in the bathroom together wouldn’t be an easy task, let alone the tiny shower stall, it didn’t matter. He closed the bathroom door behind him and forgot the conversation about Hanzo’s homelife. McCree had a feeling that maybe Hanzo had intended to forget it himself. 

Hanzo later left McCree’s apartment with a sweet kiss and a promise that he’d see McCree as soon as he could. Hanzo could slip away from the body guards so easily that McCree trusted him, but he also made him promise to be careful not to get caught coming over. McCree’s idea of fun didn’t include having to move his Hanamura home base because the bodyguards managed to be competent long enough to catch Hanzo there. He also didn’t think Reyes would find it funny if McCree got caught sleeping with Hanzo by Hanzo’s parent’s bodyguards.

Another day of convenience store food and a cup of coffee made in his tiny kitchenette, McCree knew he needed to somehow log Hanzo’s movements from the day before, but he decided that maybe he should leave it out entirely. He didn’t feel like trying to pretend Hanzo had snuck off with some other American in the rather culturally homogenous Hanamura. Instead, he decided to say he hadn’t seen him, and then he’d report the bruising the next time McCree came across him. 

Much to McCree’s surprise though, as he tried to gather his thoughts and occupy himself by wandering through the city, he found Hanzo looking around a crowd of people strangely. All alone, but Hanzo still didn’t blend in without the guards since he still wore traditional clothes. He had changed, the robes different than the ones he’d had on that morning when he’d left McCree’s place though, and he had pulled his hair back again, tied with a long golden tie that looked as traditional as his clothes. 

His eyes locked on McCree when he got closer, and Hanzo headed to him quickly, looking sort of happy. Happy in a way that seemed like an ‘in public’ sort of happy, one that maybe only McCree could really read. 

“ _ Are you okay _ ?” McCre didn’t reach out to him even though he wanted to. Hanzo still had that bruise on his face, but he had no new injuries. Instead, Hanzo just had on a blue robe that somehow didn’t seem as formal as the ones he normally wore, especially with his hair tied out of his face. 

“ _ Yes. _ ” Hanzo slipped his arms into his sleeves and made a face of general surprise or confusion, “ _ Sorry if I worried you _ .  _ I spoke with my father and he, well, he agreed with me, that I should be able to go out on my own _ .” 

McCree paused, his surprise must have been evident on his face because Hanzo just kept looking unsure. “ _ I, you’re sure you weren’t followed _ ?” 

“ _ I caught you following me long before you even knew it and you are much better than those lunky bodyguards. They would not be able to evade my notice for very long _ .” Hanzo didn’t look distressed, McCree felt like he wasn’t lying, so probably nothing really to worry about. McCree would have to be cautious though, he didn’t really want to earn the attention of Hanzo’s family just yet. 

“ _ Well, then shouldn’t we celebrate your freedom _ ?” McCree asked, smiling just a touch deviously. Hanzo deserved this, and they had the time for once, though he got the distinct feeling Hanzo had a curfew still. They could figure that out later, for now he just wanted to get Hanzo out at least a little bit. Until his Dad probably decided he’d made a mistake and put all the old rules back on Hanzo. 

Hanzo smiled though, nodding a bit, “ _ Could we maybe stop at a place where I can buy more normal clothes _ ?” He made a face at the robes he wore and then looked around at the crowd, “ _ I am suddenly more aware of how much I stick out, even on my own _ .” 

“ _ Yeah, of course _ ,” McCree laughed. Hanzo pouted at him, but when McCree started to lead him away, he still followed. He just punctuated his first step with a huff. He kept to McCree’s side though, until they found a men’s clothing store and then he didn’t want McCree following him around at all and made at least three disparaging comments about McCree’s fashion sense, so McCree decided to wait for him by the fitting room. He figured that would make Hanzo less anxious. 

Once Hanzo actually started trying on clothes though, he seemed to be much more comfortable, occasionally asking McCree for an honest opinion. He settled on black jeans, a t-shirt and a warm looking blue cardigan, which McCree convinced him to get because the forecast showed colder weather for the next few days. Hanzo then handed over the store employee a credit card and asked if he could wear the clothes out, so the employee gave him a bag to tuck his robes into. Shopping felt mundane and quiet, but McCree could tell by the way Hanzo looked everything he bought over so carefully that it mattered to him. Getting new clothes brought Hanzo’s cocky side back, which McCree had learned meant Hanzo was in good spirits. 

“ _ Why are you still wearing that hat anyway _ ?” Hanzo asked as they left the shop, “ _ You are not on a ranch. Doesn’t it just make you feel like people are looking at you _ ?” 

McCree put a cigarette in his mouth and shrugged at Hanzo as he lit it. They walked slowly down the bustling street now, slowly enough that Hanzo could pick out a place for them to eat. “ _ I’m used to it, I guess. People in America give me funny looks for wearing it too. It’s no different _ .” 

“ _ But that doesn’t bother you at all _ ?” Hanzo glanced up at McCree, he had his eyes trained on the line of restaurants otherwise. 

“ _ Nah, the hat is too important to me. It’s part of who I am _ .” McCree took a long drag on his cigarette and then flicked off the ashes carefully. “ _ Sort of like how you kept that traditional tie in your hair even though you’re wearing normal clothes _ .” 

Hanzo made a face and touched the gold tie in his hair. “ _ Genji bought it for me _ ….  _ Well, my mother probably paid for it _ .” 

McCree laughed and took another long drag on the cigarette. “ _ Yeah, see? Just like that. This hat came from someone important to me _ .” He wasn’t about to go into the long story about his Deadlocks days and the older boys who actually treated him like a person, unlike his parents had. This was supposed to be a fun outing to celebrate Hanzo’s new freedom, so he put that all on the back burner. “ _ What do you want to eat _ ?” 

Hanzo looked thoughtfully at the restaurants. “ _ I have never had Korean barbeque _ ….” he said quietly, looking over one of the places more carefully than he had the others, so McCree wandered past him to look at the menu next to the door. Hanzo paused and followed him, glancing at people as he went past them. McCree could kind of tell that Hanzo kept checking to see if people stared at him strangely, which they weren’t now. Most people weren’t even remotely paying attention to Hanzo, and instead, they quietly whispered about the American in the cowboy hat. 

“ _ Wow that’s a lot of money _ .” McCree mumbled just as Hanzo came up next to him. Hanzo shifted slightly and pulled out the card he’d used at the clothing store. McCree only then noticed that the silver card definitely screamed ‘platinum’ on the front. 

“ _ I don’t think I can get in trouble by using this for food _ .” Hanzo sounded like he needed to convince himself. 

“ _ Is that your parent’s card _ ?” McCree peered at it over Hanzo’s shoulder and Hanzo shook his head. 

“ _ My name is on it _ .  _ All my father said was _ ,” Hanzo straightened up and made a very serious face, obviously imitating his Dad, “‘ _ I trust you to use it wisely _ .’” 

McCree laughed. “ _ So the first thing you did was buy clothes that are against his rules _ ?” Hanzo started to laugh with him and nodded. 

“ _ So I can’t get in trouble for food, right _ ?” Hanzo opened the door to the restaurant and led McCree inside, still laughing to himself. McCree slipped his hat off as soon as they sat down at the table, which earned him a confused look from Hanzo. 

“I ain’t rude,” McCree said and then repeated, “ _ I’m being polite. _ ” 

Hanzo just rolled his and focused in on the grill in the center of the table. “ _ What do you think this is for _ ?” He looked at the grill confused, and turned right back to the grill when McCree shrugged at him. 

“ _ I can’t read the menu _ .” McCree looked it over one more time and then closed it in defeat. “ _ Can your order for me _ ?” Hanzo glanced at him and then picked up the menu, slowly looking through it. When the waitress came, she directed all of her attention to Hanzo, asking her what McCree wanted, which just seemed to frustrate him. 

“ _ Can we have a half bottle of sake _ ?  _ Warm _ ?” McCree spoke up, he figured he should just embarrass the waitress for making assumptions than sit there at an impasse with poor Hanzo all flustered.

The waitress looked surprised, and then nodded slightly, looking back at Hanzo briefly before she walked away. Hanzo sighed and thanked McCree. “ _ Sorry, I panicked. You can’t read the menu _ ?” 

“ _ Nope, they only taught me how to speak Japanese _ .” McCree picked up one of the glasses of water the waitress had set on the table. 

“ _ Why are you here again _ ?” Hanzo made a face, and McCree just shrugged. 

“ _ If I had any idea, I would tell you _ .” McCree kept his face nice and serious, and Hanzo just laughed at him. 

“ _ You don’t even know why you’re here _ ?  _ Then why did you spend all that time following me _ ?” Hanzo looked down at the menu and then added, “ _ Do you prefer beef or pork? _ ” 

“ _ Either is fine. Also, if my answer was going to change, I would have told you already _ .” McCree set his glass back down and looked over the menu again, wondering how this worked with the grill and all. 

“ _ So you’re just here and someone ordered you to follow me _ ?” Hanzo shifted in his seat, setting the menu down in front of him, open so McCree figured he’d picked something out that he intended to order. 

“ _ I never said someone ordered me _ .” McCree wasn’t technically lying, but he also didn’t really want to give away his ties to Overwatch, not yet. Hanzo stared out at the other tables and then hummed, disinterested. 

“ _ I guess it doesn’t really matter at this point _ .” He rested his head in his hand and looked out at the restaurant, straightening up when the waitress came back with the bottle of sake, setting it down and pouring them each a glass. Hanzo scooped his up right away, sipping at it and humming contently before he said something quick to the waitress. McCree guessed the next couple of things that came out of Hanzo’s mouth had to do with food, the waitress wrote it down, so it was probably their order.

“ _ It really doesn’t matter to you _ ?” McCree pulled his glass closer, he had been too fixated on the topic to really focus on what Hanzo said to the waitress. Hanzo looked McCree dead in the eyes. 

“ _ You are the only reason I can leave my house without four people constantly following me. I don’t care what you had been following me around for. At this point, I believe I owe you _ .” Hanzo had the faintest bit of a blush on his face, McCree couldn’t tell if the wine did it or something else. Like the words that coming out of his mouth. “ _ Besides, I have become fond of you _ .” 

McCree could feel his own face get hot, so he tried to cover it by sipping at his own sake, “ _ I guess that makes sense _ .” He left it at that for now, he didn’t want them both flustered messes while they were out to eat. “ _ You know that festival in town that’s coming up _ ?” 

Hanzo perked up. “ _ Yes _ ?” He seemed to catch McCree’s intention of changing the subject, playing along willingly. 

“ _ Do you want to go with me _ ?  _ I thought I’d enjoy it more having someone with me that actually knows what food is what _ .” McCree had been considering going anyway, but it had originally been in a, ‘well Hanzo will probably be there’ way. 

Hanzo’s eyes got wide for a single moment and he nearly choked on his sake. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and just, seemed to panic for a moment, “ _ do, no, I mean, the festival is small and not usually very exciting. The only good part is the fireworks afterwards. _ ” 

“ _ Um, oh-kaaaay _ .” McCree furrowed his brow as he watched Hanzo down the rest of his glass of sake. He laughed a tiny bit, “ _ Do you want to meet for the fireworks afterwards, then _ ?” 

“ _ That sounds like a good idea _ ,” Hanzo said and then he promptly changed the subject by adding, “ _ After this, do you mind if we pick up Genji from school _ ?” 

McCree perked up, “ _ No, of course not. Does he even know you came back home today _ ?” 

Hanzo shook his head, “ _ That is why I wanted to go get him _ .” 

“ _ We should then. He’s probably worried about you _ .” McCree sat back in his seat, watching Hanzo pour himself more sake. His face definitely flushed from the wine, but sort of just a pink tint that McCree liked on him. He needed to get drunk with Hanzo sometime, it wasn’t something he wanted to do today, but it seemed like they’d have a lot of fun. 

Their food came raw, which surprised McCree, but Hanzo didn’t looked shocked, so they took turns grilling things and talking like normal human beings for once. No games, no strange questions, neither of them even brought up the surveillance thing again. It felt like McCree was out with a friend, like when he and the other boys in the Deadlock would go out, a change of pace he really didn’t know he needed until he found himself hoping that the waitress didn’t bring them the check so quickly. 

Hanzo got more giggly when tipsy, in a way that McCree could really enjoy, so McCree decided to sure up that plan to get drunk with Hanzo in his head as they got up to leave. Though they had to pause when Hanzo nearly forgot his bag of clothes, so McCree noted Hanzo got forgetful when tipsy, which meant a drunk Hanzo would be even more forgetful. He had to keep that in mind, otherwise Hanzo would end up losing something important. 

They happened upon Genji walking home as they made their way to the school. He didn’t really see Hanzo though, instead he looked straight at McCree and lighting up.

“ _ Wait you, you’re Hanzo’s American friend, right _ ?” Genji wasn’t even within five feet of them when Hanzo stopped him in his tracks saying: 

“ _ Genji, I’ve told you before calling out foreigners like that is rude _ .” Hanzo frowned and crossed his arms, but Genji just stared at him for a good few seconds, like he didn’t know who had just spoken to him. 

“ _ Ah! Brother, I didn’t even recognize you! _ ” Genji chirped and took a few steps closer to them. Despite his shock, he did look relieved to see his brother. “ _ You look so cool like that _ .” 

McCree laughed and Hanzo made an attempt to hide just how much Genji’s approval made him beam with pride. “ _ Are you saying I am not cool normally _ ?” 

Genji laughed and nodded, “ _ Those robes we always have to wear are awful and you know it. _ ” 

Hanzo laughed with his brother, the three of them starting to make their way back to the Shimada clan house, Genji chattering a mile a minute about school. The domesticity made McCree shiver. He couldn’t believe how much he sincerely enjoyed all of this, it felt so out of place for him. 

“ _ McCree, are you going to the festival this week _ ?” Genji asked, “ _ I have time off school for it _ .” Hanzo twitched and looked surprisingly angry with Genji for something so benign. McCree had a feeling that Hanzo might have ulterior motives for not wanting McCree to be there with him. 

“ _ I was considering it _ ,” McCree said. “ _ Hey Gen, is there a reason your brother wouldn’t want me going to that festival _ ?” Hanzo twitched again and Genji broke out into a fit of snickers, glancing back at Hanzo and then giving McCree a devious look. 

“ _ Oh, I bet it’s because– _ ” Genji made a noise when Hanzo slapped a hand over Genji’s mouth and gave him a glare that might have even scared Reyes if he’d seen it. 

“ _ Go inside Genji, we’re at the front entrance. I have to go around back _ ,” Hanzo said. Genji pulled away from him and bowed to Hanzo and McCree. The bow looked like nervous tic in response to what Hanzo had just done to him. 

“ _ Yes brother _ ,” Genji said and scurried inside, still looking like he feared for his life. McCree watched him go, catching the apologetic look that Genji shot him before slipping inside the gates. 

“ _ So.”  _ McCree looked down at Hanzo, “ _ want to explain that one _ ?” 

Hanzo huffed and turned to walk around the side of the compound. The walk between the front gate and the window that Hanzo always used to get in and out felt like a world away from everything else. They had to walk all the way around the compound and then to the back of the house before heading to the very back corner. 

“ _ How old are you anyway _ ?  _ Acting like a kid with my brother _ .” Hanzo said, crossing his arms and then realizing he couldn’t slip his hands into the sleeves of his cardigan like he could his robes. McCree chuckled, he liked this side of Hanzo, despite how coarse he could get. 

“ _ Nineteen _ ,” McCree said. Hanzo paused and looked back at him. 

“ _ It’s not legal for you to drink. _ ” He looked not really appalled so much as impressed. “ _ And you just ordered the sake earlier _ .” 

“ _Yeah, everyone here seems to think I’m older than I am._ _My landlady thinks I’m in my last year of college. I just never correct them_ ,” McCree said and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jacket. Hanzo made a face and then looked back to the front. 

“ _ You are so strange _ .” Hanzo rolled his neck to one side and then hummed softly. McCree chuckled and shrugged when Hanzo looked at him again, and it wasn’t long before Hanzo was laughing too. “ _ Thank you for today _ .” 

“Of course,” McCree said. Hanzo looked up at the window he needed to climb into, and though that was probably one of the stranger phrases McCree had about someone he had a friends with benefits relationship with, he liked it. If that’s what he could call their relationship, either way, he started to like the familiarity. It felt nice to have something and someone familiar in Hanamura. 

“ _ How are you on climbing _ ?” Hanzo asked, but before McCree could really answer, he started up the wall with his shopping bag over one shoulder. 

“ _ Um, _ ” McCree looked up at Hanzo, “ _ not great _ .” 

Hanzo laughed and hopped in the window in a second, turning back to look down at McCree, “ _ stay there a moment _ .” McCree just stared, thinking about trying to climb up that wall the way that Hanzo just did. There was absolutely no way he was going to make it to that window. And then Hanzo tossed a rope down at him, hanging out the window again, “ _ how about now _ ?” 

“ _ Oh _ ,” McCree mumbled, and then he worked his way up the wall with the rope in what felt like just a little bit longer than it took Hanzo to scale the wall without it. He’d been forced to do this on much higher walls in Overwatch ‘basic training,’ and by ‘basic training’ he meant those three weeks in which Gabe and Jack tortured him in the name of proving him worthy to join. Either way, it came in handy now as he straddled the window and then stepped inside next to Hanzo. 

“ _ You sure this is a good idea _ ?” McCree kept his voice low and Hanzo just shrugged at him. He looked around the room as Hanzo pulled the rope back in, and it only took McCree a few minutes to realize the window obviously led to Hanzo’s bedroom. The rope was bolted into the floor underneath a floorboard, an incredibly clever trick in McCree’s humble opinion. 

“ _ They are not likely to notice you _ ,” Hanzo said. “ _ My room is the only one in this part of the house, or even on this level _ .” 

McCree looked around the room again and then back at Hanzo, “ _ Your room is huge _ .” 

Hanzo made a face, “ _ I know, please do not remind me, there is a reason my futon is in the corner _ .” 

“ _ Sorry _ ,” McCree chuckled and looked around again, this time taking in more than the size. Two screen doors led out into a room with what looked to be a low table in it, typical floor pillows sitting around that in various spots, McCree figured Hanzo had free rein to at least move the in his room things around. They currently stood in a small area with what looked to be some sort of storage, like a closet, and the only part of the room with wooden floors instead of mats like the rest. Also, beyond the room with the table, which had heavy looking textbooks covering most of it and various other things that looked to be school related, McCree could see a bathroom. 

“ _ Jesse _ ,” Hanzo mumbled. McCree focused back in on him, Hanzo’s hands moving to McCree’s shirt to pull him in closer. It clicked again, what Hanzo had planned, following him and falling onto the futon with Hanzo without really disconnecting their lips. “ _ You have to keep your voice low _ ,” Hanzo said. 

“ _ I can try _ ,” McCree mumbled against his lips, earning him a smile and another kiss, Hanzo rolling them over so he could straddle McCree’s lap. 

“ _ If you do not, _ ” Hanzo mumbled. “ _ Something is either going into your mouth or I will press you face first into the futon _ .” 

McCree grinned up at Hanzo, his hands finding Hanzo’s hips and leading him into grinding against McCree’s lap. “ _ Guess I’ll have to be loud then _ .” 

Hanzo laughed and leaned down into McCree, the two of them struggling to get each other’s clothes off and finally falling together at least three times in desperation before Hanzo curled up on McCree’s chest, tired and satisfied. He yawned and assured him it was okay to stay, and as McCree fell asleep, he could hear Hanzo snoring lightly, his hair still in the gold hair tie that was now flopped over his back. 

McCree woke to the sound of Genji’s voice. “ _ Hanzo! Mom is looking for you, and Dad wants us to eat breakfast before he leaves on that business trip _ .” Genji was knocking on what McCree guessed had to be the door. 

“ _ Han _ ,” McCree mumbled, trying to shake him awake. Despite his best efforts though, Hanzo stayed fast asleep, “ _ Hanzo, your brother.” _

Hanzo barely even moved, and then McCree heard the door to the room open up. He couldn’t hide behind a fucking futon, at least it was just Genji? Either way, he definitely panicked, throwing Hanzo over him, which seemed enough to finally wake him up and then tucked himself under the heavy comforter in hopes he would stay mostly hidden by Hanzo’s body and packing a couple pillows close like Hanzo had been cuddling with them. 

“ _ Hanzo come on,”  _ Genji grumbled as he stepped into the doorway that led to the part of Hanzo’s room with the table. “ _ You’re going to make me late for school if you don’t get downstairs soon. You know how Dad is when he’s leaving. _ ” 

“ _ Ah, I know, I know,”  _ Hanzo’s voice didn’t sound panicked at all, “ _ I’ll be down shortly _ .” 

“ _ Thank you _ ,” Genji said. McCree tried to lie as still as he possibly could, “ _ Ah, McCree, you don’t have to hide _ .  _ Good morning to you too _ .” 

He could feel Hanzo freeze next to him, but McCree just sighed and pulled the blanket off his head. “ _ Good morning Genji. _ ” 

“ _ Genji, get out _ ,” Hanzo said and Genji in fact, turned to leave. He had a light bob in his step though, his hands innocently behind his back as he went. 

“ _ Okay, but you’re totally taking me to the arcade sometime for this one _ .” Genji then slipped out of the room, and Hanzo sighed. 

“ _ You can either wait for me here, or sneak out _ .” Hanzo looked back at McCree and then added, “ _ Sorry about him _ .” 

“ _ I think we’re just lucky it was Genji and not, I don’t know, a bodyguard or something _ ,” McCree said and then smiled. “ _ I can wait here for you. I kind of want to sleep more anyway. _ ” 

Hanzo smiled a tiny bit and leaned down to catch McCree in a quick kiss.  _ “I will see you soon _ ,” he said. Then he got out of the bed quick, pulling on a robe and boxers faster than McCree imagined it should take, but he watched Hanzo go after that. Seeing him look happy felt good, and the bruise on his face had faded already. 

McCree settled himself into the futon and pulled the blanket around his body tightly. It didn’t take long for him to fall back asleep and by the time he woke up, Hanzo had pressed himself into McCree’s shoulder. Hanzo had his leg wound around one of McCree’s, which meant he wasn’t getting up unless he woke him, so he stayed still, watching Hanzo’s chest rise with each breath. The calm almost lulled him right back to sleep, but for a moment, he had a pang of anxiety that Reyes would call him and tell him he had to kill Hanzo. McCree knew that wasn’t possible, but that didn’t mean it didn’t scare him. Hanzo couldn’t have possibly done anything to bring that upon himself. 

“ _ Are you all right _ ?” Hanzo moved to gently kiss McCree’s shoulder, “ _ you look like you are scared of something _ .” McCree hadn’t even noticed Hanzo waking up.

McCree shook himself out quickly, all his senses zeroing in on Hanzo’s lips carefully trailing up his neck. “ _ Sorry _ ,” he said. “ _ I zoned out. _ ”

“ _ Do you need help coming back _ ?” Hanzo’s eyes landed on McCree’s face, his hands on either side of McCree’s head. McCree could feel Hanzo’s hair gently falling on his neck shoulders and face, so he leaned up and pulled him into a sweet kiss. 

“ _ I think I’ll be all right now _ .” McCree’s hands found their way to Hanzo’s hair, pulling him down for another small kiss. Hanzo hummed softly at him and nodded, his fingers moving to play with the very ends of McCree’s hair. 

“ _ If you say so _ ,” Hanzo mumbled and then glanced at the clock sitting near his bed. “ _ I have to leave for a lesson soon. _ ” 

“ _ I can sneak out if you need me to _ ,” McCree said. “ _ Will you be able to be out tonight _ ?” 

Hanzo nodded quickly. “ _ My dad left for America for the next week _ .” He shifted to sit back on his knees and stretched his arms over his head. “ _ This is like easy mode _ .” 

“ _ I like that _ ,  _ easy mode _ .” McCree chuckled and turned onto his stomach to stretch sort of like a cat. “ _ Are you sure you don’t want to go to the festival with me _ ?”

“ _ Maybe _ .” Hanzo pouted and pulled McCree into another kiss. “ _ I’ll at least see you for the fireworks _ .” He puffed up his cheeks and looked like he wanted to say something, mulling it over in his head. 

“ _ Okay. I’m still going to the festival opening tomorrow afternoon though _ .” McCree found his shirt and pulled it back on, watching Hanzo visibly twitch. He seemed to contemplate saying something again, but instead he just stood up and scooped up his clothes. 

“ _ You should go to the food stalls insead, no one will be there during the opening _ .” He made his way to the bathroom, and McCree smiled to himself as he watched him go. It didn’t take him long to get his clothes on then, picking up the floorboard with the rope in it and tossing it out the window. He scaled down quickly, and figured the rope could stay hanging out the window after he made two attempts at tossing it back into the window. 

He went home and got cleaned up, taking a long shower before he worked his way back out to get food. McCree sat down at the ramen shop with his phone in hand, reading over messages from Reyes and taking note of what had done since getting to Japan. The long string ended in Reyes just telling him to keep up surveillance, and McCree just wondered if there was a point to writing reports at all, or if he was going to stay stationed in Japan for the rest of his life. That wasn’t the worst thought, but he’d like to get off the training mission and onto something where he could deal with actual bad guys. 

McCree walked out into the main strip in town then, watching people set up some big archery targets and a whole lot of flowers. He had to admit, it made the town far more exciting to look at, and he decided maybe he wouldn’t heed Hanzo’s words on the food stalls. 

“ _ Hey, Mr. McCree _ .” Genji waved at McCree and when he turned around, Genji had one of the archery targets in his arms and a grin a mile wide. “ _ Are you going to try to be at the festival tomorrow _ ?” 

“ _ I was gonna try. What are you doing here, shouldn’t you be in school _ ?” McCree looked out over the mass of kids about Genji’s age carrying targets, placing them precariously on top of wooden stands. Genji glanced back at them as well, another group of students making a path with stakes and rope. 

“ _ We’re spending the afternoon setting up today _ .  _ My teacher is over there _ .” Genji gestured at an older man talking to several students, shifting the target in his hands. “ _ It’s for the archery competition. It’s really cool to watch _ .” 

McCree nodded. “ _ I can probably make it _ .” Genji beamed, nodding quickly while his classmate called for him to bring the target over. 

“ _ Good. See you there, Mr.McCree _ !” Genji waved as he walked away, so McCree waved back and found himself walking through the big area where the town put the food stalls and set up the rest of the festival. All of Hanamura stopped for this thing, he couldn’t believe how many places had closed for preparations according to the signs on their door. It reminded him of a county fair, minus all the livestock and pies. 

He wandered the town in a loop, taking it in twice and looking things over until he felt someone nudging his arm. McCree found Hanzo looking up at him, not looking particularly happy, but he didn’t look like anything bad had happened either. 

“ _ I need to buy something, but all the bakeries are closed _ ,” Hanzo said. “ _ Would you mind accompanying me to the next town over _ ?” 

McCree blinked. “ _ I don’t mind _ .  _ How are we getting there _ ?” 

“ _ Train, have you taken it before _ ?” Hanzo looped his arm around McCree’s, turning them down a street McCree had never taken before and towards a busy looking train station. 

“ _ Not here _ .” McCree had spent more time robbing trains back home than he had riding on them. “ _ Not really in the U.S. either _ .  _ Have you _ ?” 

“ _ No _ .” Hanzo looked thoughtful. “ _ But I’m sure we can figure it out _ .” 

It only took them thirty minutes. McCree couldn’t read, so Hanzo read out loud to him, which complicated everything. It resulted in only a small amount of bickering about how it worked, but McCree also swore in Spanish the whole time so the folks around them wouldn’t notice just how many profanities left his mouth. Hanzo seemed to only get annoyed when he spoke any language other than Japanese, but once they had tickets in hand and they actually entered the station they both calmed down. McCree just put the thought of having to do it again on the way back out of his head temporarily and it was totally fine. 

They only had to take the train a few stops, both of them staring out the window like tourists had people looking, but it didn’t matter in the long run. When they got off the train, Hanzo lead him down the street packed full of people, the whole area littered with shops and places to eat and bakeries. 

“Whoa.” McCree looked over the large crowd, Hanzo taking his hand to pull him along towards a bakery he’d seemed to just sorta pick out of all of them. “ _ Wait _ ,  _ you know, before we buy baked goods _ ,  _ do you want to get more casual clothes _ ?” McCree could make a date out of this if he wanted to, couples wandered the whole area talking and doing things together anyways. They might as well do it too. 

Hanzo stopped, turning to look back at McCree with wide eyes. “ _ I had considered it. You really wouldn’t mind shopping _ ?” He’d already refocused himself on the stores though, swiping his hair back to get it over his shoulder again. It seemed to be bothering him, so McCree stuck his hands in his pockets, searching until he could find him a hair tie. McCree kept them around for a lot of reasons, plus his hair was once long enough to pull it back into a ponytail, he preferred it in the heat of Santa Fe. 

“ _ I don’t mind at all _ .  _ You need more than a single pair of pants and a t-shirt anyway _ .  _ It’s getting warmer out, you’ll need lighter stuff _ ,” McCree said. He watched Hanzo deftly tie his hair up and out of his way before he turned back to McCree, smiling. 

“ _ You are right _ ,  _ but we should get you some clothes that actually look like you picked them out too _ .” Hanzo took McCree’s hand again and started to lead him to a store. McCree knew he’d been called out, but he tried his hardest to think of a good way to explain all his hand-me-down clothes. It would have been mildly embarrassing if Hanzo hadn’t stated it so matter of factly. Coming from Hanzo though, it seemed more like an offer he’d intended to be thoughtful.

“ _ Maybe _ .” He could leave it at that for now, because more than anything there wasn’t any way he’d let Hanzo spend a lot of money on him. Hanzo made a face and proceeded to start picking things out for both of them the moment they got in the store, handing things he thought would look good on McCree to him and holding onto the things that were for himself, which included a rather gaudy shirt with a whole lot of gold silk screened onto it. The design even shimmered. 

This time around, Hanzo shoved him into a fitting room just to ensure that he tried things on, chiding him when he tried to argue, so McCree just accepted it. He actually had to admit, having a pair of jeans on that fit right felt nice, and he honestly couldn’t help the temptation, so he put together a very modest pile of things he liked and then set about convincing Hanzo he shouldn’t buy the shirt with the gold. Instead, he convinced Hanzo to put on a t-shirt with actual short sleeves, but after some staring at him from the staff he decided against that. He’d forgotten about the gaudy shirt by the end of it though. 

“ _ Give me those as well _ .” Hanzo said, sneaking past McCree into the fitting room he’d tried to hide some of the things he’d definitely want, but didn’t want to let Hanzo pay for. He scooped them up and then after a small amount of bickering Hanzo huffed and ended it with, “ _ fine then I’m buying them for myself _ .” 

McCree let it go again, following Hanzo to the register and grumbling about just how stubborn Hanzo acted once he’d set his mind on something. Hanzo didn’t seem fazed by it though, buying them both the clothes and leaving in something he’d bought again. When they left the shop, he spun on McCree and handed him one of the bags without a word. 

“ _ Okay, fine _ .” McCree said and Hanzo smiled, just a little smug. “ _ Have you eaten lunch _ ?” 

Hanzo shook his head. “ _ No. Do you want to stop _ ?  _ We have time _ .” 

McCree agreed quickly, and Hanzo dragged him into a cafe that also had a bakery. Two birds with one stone. This time though, McCree insisted on paying, which wasn’t a big deal since Overwatch covered all his costs of living there, so he had his paychecks sort of lying around for now. Hanzo still  made a little fuss about it, though. When they finished, Hanzo ordered the baked goods to the table, speaking rapidly in Japanese with the waitress, so McCree tuned out until the waitress walked away. 

Hanzo glanced at him and sighed. “ _ We are going to have a lot to carry _ .” 

“ _ How much did you order _ ?” McCree looked at the waitress as she spoke with one of her coworkers and started to get things ready. Hanzo leaned on one of his hands, humming softly and thinking it over. 

“ _ Two cakes, some melon bread, two kinds of mochi, and macarons _ ,” Hanzo paused. “ _ The macarons are for us, though _ .” 

“ _ I don’t think I’ve ever had a macaron _ .” McCree bit down on the word, which started Hanzo laughing while McCree grumbled. “You didn’t have to order me somethin’ so hard to pronounce, I might not even like it.” He kept grumbling, Hanzo blinking at him and looking at McCree boredly. 

“Well if you don’t like them, then I’ll just eat all the macarons,” Hanzo said. McCree stared at him, for a  _ long _ time, because it took that long for McCree to register the English. English just came out of Hanzo’s mouth. McCree, dumbfounded and admittedly frustrated, and couldn’t even find the words to respond to him. Hanzo’s bored expression went from passive to so very smug. “Is something wrong?” 

“Have you,” McCree paused. “You knew how to speak English this whole time?” 

“Yes. Is there something you don’t understand?” Hanzo kept his face so blank that McCree would have believed it if someone told him he hallucinated all of the English coming out of his mouth. 

“Then why in hell did you tell me you couldn’t? And why have I been speaking broken Japanese to you, when I coulda just been speaking decent English.” McCree groaned, pressing his hands over his face and trying to settle himself down.   
“Your English is only decent?” Hanzo twitched, looking nervous when McCree scowled at him. “Also, I told you I wasn’t sure what you said before, not that I did not know English.” 

McCree sighed and in a moment he started to laugh, because honestly, Hanzo had sort of got him. At this point, he didn’t have anything else to do but laugh it off. “You’re such a little shit.” 

“Excuse me!” Hanzo feigned offense, pressing his hand to his chest as he did it. “If that is anyone, it is my brother.” 

McCree laughed harder. “Yeah he seems like it. Kids that age are all assholes in my experience. I’m sure I was right there with him once.” 

“I didn’t expect your accent to be thick in English too.” He didn’t sound malicious this time, and when McCree looked back at Hanzo, he looked at McCree curiously. “It is sort of nice.” 

McCree took his turn to get all red and flustered, setting his head in his hand and looking away from Hanzo. Lucky for McCree, the waitress showed up right then, and Hanzo got distracted by paying and thanking her. He wasn’t kidding though, he’d bought so many sweets, McCree couldn’t imagine what plans he had made. 

“What are you doin’ with all of this?” McCree turned his eyes up to find Hanzo already eating a macaron.

“Are we just speaking English now?” Hanzo asked and then promptly lowered his voice. “ _ Maybe I didn’t need a cake to myself though _ .” Hanzo picked up one of the brightly colored macarons and offered it to McCree. He took it and thanked him quietly, trying to mull over a response. 

“Well, we’ve been speaking Japanese all this time? Isn’t that fair?” McCree asked. “Also, did you seriously plan to eat a cake by yourself?” Hanzo huffed and denied the cake thing, the two of them chatting and heading back to Hanamura shortly after Hanzo made McCree eat a few more different flavored macarons. It turned out macarons were cookies, which McCree felt Hanzo could have just said in the first place. 

They walked back to Hanzo’s house slowly, talking as Hanzo indulged a few questions about the festival that McCree had. Overall, he still had no clue what it would be like, but McCree had determined he needed to go. When they got back to Hanzo’s estate, he thanked McCree for the help and told him he had to help his mother with something, so they parted ways.

Things had been so intense with Hanzo since they’d gotten close, that McCree felt a tad bit relieved to have some time to decompress and write reports. He fell asleep early, his head hurting when he woke up. It nearly prevented him from gathering himself and getting up so he could go to the damn festival. He knew the opening ceremony was worth it though, so he had himself dressed and showered in about twenty minutes. The moment he got outside, he could tell that things had started, everyone buzzed around the apartment building, and after a confusing conversation with the little old woman who owned his apartment, he found himself forced into her son’s kimono. McCree had to admit, the comfortable robes made him fit in better, but he insisted on keeping his boxers on. 

After a lot of polite, but slightly too long conversation, he managed to free himself from his neighbor and head into town. People flooded the streets, chattering and talking and wearing traditional robes. It felt different, but in a really nice way. He wasn’t wrong, the whole thing felt a lot like a county fair, which felt like home. McCree found himself wandering to the spot he’d seen Genji the day before, and lucky for him, Genji greeted him loudly as soon as he got close. 

“ _ Mr. McCree! Come here! _ ” Genji waved him into a group of boys who all looked about his age and he explained that McCree knew Hanzo. It didn’t take much more explanation before Genji dragged him up to the ropes the students had set up the day before. “ _ My brother is up next _ .”

McCree furrowed his brow. “ _ Next for what _ ?” 

Genji said something so fast McCree didn’t catch it, but he also pointed down the pathway made by the ropes and at the end of it. McCree could barely see Hanzo at the end, standing with the reins of a horse in his hand as he spoke with two older people who wore fancy looking kimono. 

Hanzo though, Hanzo looked so striking. He leisurely held onto his horse in a full traditional costume, his clothes blue and gray save for white gloves, his hand gripping the middle of a traditional bow. McCree stared, taking in the odd hat, which Hanzo somehow looked good in, and the animal hide skirt wrapped around his legs, secured by what looked like rope. He nodded and glanced towards them, McCree doubted he had seen them in the crowd. McCree, entranced, didn’t really care about anything other than Hanzo the moment he slipped his arm out of one sleeve, tying it down against his skirt, revealing his tattoo to the crowd. Hanzo then climbed up on the horse in a graceful movement that had McCree’s jaw dropping. He couldn’t process this much longer, and Hanzo seemed to ready himself. At the word of one of the older people in kimono standing near him, Hanzo took off on the horse so fast McCree honestly thought that even he couldn’t keep up with Hanzo in a race. And he’d started riding at three. 

Hanzo’s muscles strained with the horse, he rode like a god, his hand letting go of the reins when he readied the bow. He shot the first target dead center and McCree watched Hanzo’s hand pulling another arrow from the quiver. Hanzo didn’t even look at the horse between the first two targets, his legs tight on the saddle to keep it in check while he focused all his attention on shooting. The second target came out just as well as the first, dead center and making a wild noise as the shaft of the arrow shook. 

McCree felt like he paled in comparison all the sudden, and Hanzo, so handsome and confident, threw McCree into a place of not feeling worthy of Hanzo at all. Hanzo’s arms looked better with every movement, even his right hand, hidden under the guard and glove moved the fabric in a way that had McCree hanging on every twitch. It left McCree somewhere between imagining Hanzo’s hands on McCree and contemplating how in hell he’d managed to convince this gorgeous person to sleep with him previously. 

“ _ Doesn’t he look cool? _ ” Genji’s excited voice sounded thirty miles away as Hanzo sunk another arrow into a third target. He’d passed them now, the horse had roared by in a flash. So now, McCree watched Hanzo’s hair, tied in a low ponytail, waving and his back muscles tighten with each move of the horse and his arms. “ _ Yes! I swear he’s my older brother. He didn’t go to our school. What? Hey, Mr. McCree, Hanzo is my older brother, right _ ?” 

Hanzo had just hit the last three targets, his horse slowing, hand back on the reins, leading the horse off in a different direction. “What? _ Oh, um, yeah. Hanzo is Genji’s brother. Gen, I need to go, I’ll catch up with you later _ .” 

“ _ Fine, go be gross with my brother _ .” Genji teased and McCree only managed to pause long enough to laugh awkwardly, ruffling Genji’s hair before he ran off to find Hanzo. It wasn’t very hard, Hanzo was in a real funny hat, which he snatched off his head the moment he saw McCree coming, much to the confusion of the woman speaking with him at that moment. McCree knew this is why Hanzo had tried to convince McCree not to go to the festival, but honestly, McCree would needed to thank Genji for telling him repeatedly to be there. 

McCree stopped and waited politely, the woman excusing herself surprisingly fast. He had to resist hugging Hanzo, lighting up as soon as he had Hanzo’s attention. “ _ You did great _ .” 

“ _ Th-Thank you. _ ” Hanzo got redder than McCree had ever seen him, his hand still holding onto the reins of the horse. “ _ I, um, this outfit is stupid _ .” 

McCree laughed, just briefly. “ _ It looks good on you _ .” Hanzo gave him a bashful look and then looked at the hat in his hand, so McCree added, “ _ Yes, including the hat _ .” 

Hanzo huffed softly, trying not to look directly at McCree as he gathered himself. “ _ You look nice too _ . _ Where did you get the yukata _ ?” 

“ _ The what _ ?” McCree translated the sentence in his head again and looked down at his clothes, “ _ The kimono _ ?” Hanzo stared up at him for a moment, seeming to contemplate McCree’s answer and then started to laugh. 

“ _ That is a yukata. Kimono are more formal _ .” Hanzo continued laughing for a moment, but McCree didn’t mind, Hanzo got more relaxed when he stopped. “ _ Someone must have told you they were all kimono _ ?” 

“ _ Yes. That explains some of the confusion I had with my landlady this morning _ .” McCree smiled and Hanzo chuckled to himself, he must have been imagining it. In all honesty, it had been a strange and half-there conversation. 

“ _ Hanzo, the horse _ ,” said the same woman Hanzo had been talking to before re-appeared. Hanzo jolted and tugged on the reins gently to get the horse to follow him. 

“ _ Coming, sorry _ .” Hanzo glanced back at McCree. “ _ Food stalls _ .” 

“ _ Got it. _ ” McCree watched Hanzo follow the woman with the horse’s reins still loosely in his hands. He did catch one, rather important thing, which was Hanzo calling the older woman mom as she chastised playfully him for not moving quickly enough. She looked back at McCree at some point, curiously, and McCree waved back at her because it felt polite before he made himself scarce in the crowd. 

He ran across Genji again with another bout of him yelling McCree’s name and dragging him into his little group of highschool friends. “ _ Hey, Genji, show me where the food stalls are and I’ll buy you all something _ ,” was apparently all it took to have the four boys dragging him to a stand that sold some kind of rice flour balls in sweet syrup. They insisted that McCree get one too before McCree made it a point to lose them, but Genji seemed to understand and didn’t say anything when McCree stopped following. 

McCree ate the dango and sucked down a cigarette in the time it took Hanzo to appear, now missing the animal hide skirt tied over what he previously had on. He didn’t seem to have the silly hat either, not that McCree could really mock the hats anyone else wore. McCree put out his cigarette and threw the butt out in a trash can before he wandered up to Hanzo who looked more comfortable than usual in the crowd. 

“ _ There you are _ .  _ You are harder to find without the hat _ .” Hanzo crossed his arms and looked McCree over again briefly. “ _ So the landlady put you in that _ ?” 

“ _ Yes. I actually have a question, what is what you’re wearing called _ ?” McCree watched Hanzo try to put his hands in his sleeves, only to realize that he only really had one because of the guard still on his right hand. He’d pulled his left sleeve back up though, hiding the tattoo again. 

Hanzo flushed again, looking away from McCree, he still had his hair tied low, so it moved with his head and made a nice fluid line with the action. “ _ It is a kyudo-gi. Like the uniforms they wear in karate, just modified for archery _ .” 

“ _ Oh _ .” McCree looked Hanzo over again and Hanzo’s face turned sour. “ _ Sorry, sorry _ .  _ It really does look good on you _ .” 

Hanzo sighed. “ _ Thank you. _ ” He still seemed flustered, but it only got worse when a group of girls about their age walked by whispering and pointing at him vaguely. McCree didn’t understand, instinctively mean mugging them until they stopped. 

“ _ Want to explain that _ ?” McCree looked back Hanzo, now he just looked annoyed, which McCree decided was better than flustered. Hanzo groaned and pressed a hand to his face, rubbing his forehead. 

“ _ I won the competition again. I hate this festival _ .” He hugged his arms to his chest tighter as another group of people walked by looking at him. McCree looked at them wide eyed, looking back at Hanzo and honestly empathizing. He must hate this kind of attention, and it seemed to be worse when a group of young girls peered at him and mumbled to each other.

“ _ Do you want to go somewhere to change _ ?  _ Or, um.” _ They were fairly far from Hanzo’s house, and most of the local clothing shops had closed for the festivities. “ _ Maybe tying your hair up higher would be enough for people not to realize it’s you _ ?” 

Hanzo gave him a skeptical look that had a lot of relief behind it. Maybe he just felt better that McCree didn’t tell him to try and enjoy the attention, McCree could see that getting frustrating really fast. He sighed though, McCree watched Hanzo’s shoulders slope and his age seemed to drop ten years. Hanzo looked around, pulling the gold tie from his hair so he could move it into a higher ponytail. He didn’t look convinced of anything, but when McCree offered they go get his cowboy hat, Hanzo flat out refused. 

Once they had a good amount of food to eat, and Hanzo had gotten a significant amount of Japanese sweets to try and feed to McCree they left the main festival area. Leaving the main festival area cut down on people staring at Hanzo, now there were mostly older people and young kids running around who didn’t seem to notice them. An old person did occasionally stop Hanzo to congratulate him, that didn’t seem to bother Hanzo at all. He bowed politely everytime and thanked them.

McCree let Hanzo lead the way, trading food and trying different treats while they made their way up onto a grassy hill for the fireworks. The show wasn’t long, but they sat in the damp grass and watched because it meant everyone else had moved to spot where they could see the fireworks better. The show still looked pretty to McCree right where they sat and it seemed like somewhere in the middle everything dropped out around them. Hiding in their own little world, eating a slice of strawberry shortcake without a fork which led to a lot of wiping whipped cream on each other’s faces or noses and laughing.

Hanzo had his head on McCree’s shoulder, the two of them had gone quiet, waiting for the crowd to completely dissipate before they left. “ _ You’re going to leave. Aren’t you? After you’ve finished whatever it is you are doing here _ .”

“ _ What _ ?” McCree blinked, trying to shake his head and register the rather sudden feeling of loneliness that came with thinking about leaving Hanamura and more importantly Hanzo. Which probably meant he had fallen harder than he meant to, but he travelled all the time, he found himself in Japan because Reyes needed him there. Reyes even said this trip was the first of many longer ones. He had just decided it would work out when this all started, he probably should have thought about talking to Hanzo about it. “ _ I mean. Technically, yes, but I’m in Japan for work all the time. _ ” 

“ _ I don’t even know what you do. _ ” Hanzo sighed and looked up at McCree, frustration knitting his brows together and darkening his eyes. McCree felt guilty, he didn’t want Hanzo to feel like McCree thought this relationship wasn’t serious to him. His hand naturally found a way around Hanzo’s waist to pull him closer. “ _ You could just disappear and I would never know how to find you. I’m not even sure I know your real name _ .” 

“ _ Jesse McCree is my real name _ .” McCree didn’t want Hanzo to be worrying about this, but he couldn’t say he didn’t blame him either. “ _ I promise. And I promise I won’t just disappear on you _ .” 

Hanzo chewed on his lip a moment, his eyes cast down at the grass so McCree couldn’t make eye contact with him. And if McCree could see better in the dark, he could say for sure that Hanzo was teary eyed and upset. He didn’t respond, just sat there thinking for a long time. 

“ _ I promise, Hanzo. I promise that I am telling you the truth right now _ .” McCree nudged Hanzo’s cheek with his hand, gently coaxing him to look up at his face. Hanzo definitely had tears in his eyes, his jaw locked. McCree could feel the frustration rolling off of him, the only thing that ever made Hanzo’s face look so twisted and hard was McCree. And he always looked older when he got like this, McCree knew he could only blame himself. 

Hanzo pulled away again, turning so that he could face away from McCree entirely, McCree just let him, watching closely, because he’d never seen Hanzo coil in on himself like that. Of course, Hanzo punctuated the movement by pulling his knees to his chest and holding onto them while he mumbled, “ _ Stupid, attractive American _ ,” and several other things that McCree could only guess consisted mostly of cursing. 

“ _ Hanzo _ .” McCree nudged his arm gently again. 

“ _ All right, fine. _ ” Hanzo huffed, still looking away from McCree and settling his face on his forearms. McCree had never seen Hanzo act quite this childish, or selfish. Maybe that was a good thing. “ _ I didn’t expect you to try to convince me…. _ ” 

McCree blinked, and he let that comment drift through his head a second time. “ _ Wait, did you expect me to just ditch you _ ? _ Is that what you were so upset about _ ?” 

Hanzo got red, bright red, and fast. “ _ N-No. Nevermind, forget I said anything! _ ” 

McCree gaped, and then in a moment, he couldn’t help but laugh, Hanzo swearing at him rapid fire in Japanese again. Eventually, Hanzo huffed and stopped, instead demanding that McCree stop laughing rather than just swearing at him, so McCree took the opportunity to cup Hanzo’s cheek in his hand, pulling him in for a sweet kiss. He kept it short, bumping their noses together after because it meant Hanzo would twitch and get redder. 

“ _ I promise. I’ll keep in contact, even if I’m not in Japan. Unless you tell me you don’t want to hear from me anymore, babe,”  _ McCree said. Hanzo’s warm face made McCree’s palm tingle, and when Hanzo leaned into McCree’s hand for a moment before he fell into McCree’s chest and groaned.

“ _ Stupid, sweet cowboy _ .” Hanzo kept his voice, muffled by the robes McCree had on, low and his face pressed into McCree hard. He clung like he did the first night they’d had sex, his grip tight on McCree’s shirt, so McCree just wrapped him up in a hug. No one paid any mind to the two of them, the few stragglers puttering off the hill and leaving Hanzo alone with McCree there. Alone together. 


	3. Bonus Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to cut a good chunk of the chapter I had already written to be published today, and go in a different direction. Unfortunately, that means that I now don't have a chapter for you guys, so I took what I had and made it into a fluffy little bonus. I hope you all enjoy it!

Months slipped by like nothing when everything around McCree started to revolve around Hanzo. Hanzo spent a lot of time in his tiny apartment, and when his dad left for periods of time, which seemed rather often lately, McCree climbed into Hanzo’s window to spend time there. Hanzo worked his way into McCree’s life easily, keeping things exciting and making sure that McCree occasionally ate restaurant food instead of convenience store food or ramen. McCree made sure to keep an eye on Hanzo’s mood too, helping him relieve the stress of his family and actually be a kid for the first time in his life. They definitely acted like dumb kids, especially when they fought, but before McCree knew it, Hanzo and his relationship became an actual relationship.

No news came in from Reyes, and he didn’t even seem to suspect McCree of anything since McCree had gotten good at fudging the reports. Hanzo stopped asking about work, he didn’t seem to care at some point, too busy with their relationship and getting to be young and stupid with McCree. He didn’t even mind that McCree asked him to keep this a secret from his parents, just in case they had been the ones to hire him.

McCree did a good job of keeping himself scarce from everyone in the Shimada clan, save for Hanzo and Genji, his life probably depended on it. He didn’t want to find out how Hanzo’s Dad would react to finding an American in bed with his clan heir and from what McCree had learned about their mother, he didn’t really want to run into her either. Of course, the moment he’d thought about it, he had doomed himself really.

“Holy shit,” McCree woke faster and in more of a panic than he ever had in his life, his eyes opening to the tall woman pressing all her weight into his sternum. Even better, she had her sword out in front of her, elbows high so she could point down at McCree’s throat with the blade turned up towards the ceiling and boy did it look _sharp_.

“ _Who are you? What are your intentions with my son_?” Hanzo’s mother shifted her weight and pressed into McCree’s chest hard enough to make him cough. He couldn’t really talk, his hands going up in defence because he really had nothing else. Lucky for him, Hanzo sat straight up before McCree had to answer.

“ _Mom, are you crazy? Get out._ ” Hanzo’s voice, high pitched and irritated, came out in sort of a surprised yelp, his hands almost going to reach for the sword at McCree’s throat until he realized that it was, in fact, a real fucking sword. This is where McCree was going to die. “ _You brought a real sword this time?_ ”

McCree shot Hanzo a confused, and probably fairly desperate look, but thankfully his mother turned the sword away from him, only to tap Hanzo on the head with the side of the blade. “ _Of course_ ,” she said, “ _this isn’t one of our guards. He was far more likely to be an actual threat_.”

“ _He is not a threat_ .” Hanzo groaned, “ _do you always have to do this_?” Hanzo’s mother stepped off McCree’s chest, allowing him to breathe, which felt great honestly. McCree had never known just how much he took breathing for granted.

“ _I am only trying to protect you. You should know better than to sneak around behind both your father and me_ .” In a swift motion, Hanzo’s mother slipped the sword back into its sheath and looked the two of them over. McCree only then noticed that she had binds on her chest and one of her sleeves tied down at her side, much like Hanzo had when he’d been in the archery competition, and just like Hanzo, she had a full sleeve tattoo, red dragons crawling down her arm. “ _Get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast. Both of you_.”

“Yes ma’am,” McCree said it out of pure instinct, like he always did when Ana did something to scare the shit out of him. He got a surprised look from Hanzo though, and his mother smiled, chuckling softly as she started to leave.

“ _Smart boy_.” She still had the sword at her hip, walking with it there like an old pro. As soon as she made it out the door, McCree turned to Hanzo wide eyed.

“ _So um, she’s done that to you before_?” McCree could see the way that Hanzo bristled, his face getting red. He cleared his throat, shifting in the futon slightly.

“ _Yes, um, admittedly some of my body guards were much younger and more attractive than the ones you’ve seen_ .” Hanzo avoided making eye contact with McCree as he said it, his fingers fidgeting with the blanket they were under. “ _And she may have threatened a few of them in my bed as well_.”

McCree stared at him a moment, trying to even comprehend how it would feel to have the person who is essentially your boss finding you in bed with their kid and have to come back to work the next day. “ _Well, at least she didn’t seem mad when she left_?”

“ _I am so sorry_ .” Hanzo sighed and glanced at the window, “ _if you want to go out the window, I would not blame you…._ ”

“ _I feel like that would be rude at this point_ .” McCree sat up and leaned over to press a kiss on Hanzo’s temple, “ _we might as well just go down there. It’s just your mom, right?_ ”

Hanzo seemed to relax, “ _I guess you are right. I know you were trying to keep our relationship from either of my parents._ ”

“ _Cat’s out of the bag now_ ,” McCree said, receiving the wildest look from Hanzo in return, “ _I mean, she knows anyway now_.”

“ _Ah that, didn’t translate well_ .” Hanzo said, slipping himself out of the futon, “ _are you sure… that you’re okay with this?_ ”

McCree had already gotten his pants on, standing up to zip them as he looked up at Hanzo’s tentative expression. “ _I promise_ ,” McCree said, wandering over to Hanzo and turning his face up to him, “ _don’t look so worried babe, I promise I’m fine_.” Honestly, Hanzo’s mother didn’t seem to recognize McCree, which he’d been more worried about than her discovering their relationship. Hanzo’s mother could have easily been the person who hired him, but that didn’t seem to be the case here. And if he got down to the nitty, gritty of the situation, he really cared for Hanzo, and really if they wanted to be together in a long-term way, he would need to eventually meet Hanzo’s parents.

“ _All right_ .” Hanzo smiled subtly and leaned up when McCree leaned in to kiss him, “ _I am sorry in advance if she interrogates you_.”

McCree chuckled, “ _I mean, that’s to be expected isn’t it_?” Hanzo blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

“ _I guess you are right_.” He took a deep breath, pulling on a robe and poking around until he found a tie for his hair. Their clothes were all a bit scattered because of how they’d come in the night before, but McCree made quick work of finding his and washed his face in Hanzo’s huge bathroom. Hanzo brushed his teeth, staring blankly at the mirror in an odd state of panic that seemed to ebb away slowly.

McCree didn’t think about it until he had followed Hanzo out of his room, but he’d never seen this part of the house. Most of his awareness of the huge mansion Hanzo lived in was the outside wall he’d lost his footing on a few times and wound up swinging into it while clinging to the rope for dear life. Hanzo picked up on McCree’s interest, glancing back at McCree while he stared at the walls and basically anything new they came upon.

“ _Try not to touch anything. Some things have alarms on them_ .” Hanzo paused at a point where the house clearly changed, the part they’d been in just seemed older, much older than the part Hanzo had led him to. He pointed to a scroll on the wall, thick calligraphy that McCree couldn’t read hung, “ _I pulled that down once as a kid and they thought someone had snuck in to steal it_.”

McCree twitched, “ _is it really worth that much to have an alarm on it_?”

Hanzo hummed, “ _I guess it’s worth about five and a half million yen.”_

McCree stared, blank and trying to comprehend the number, “Fifty, fifty thousand dollars?” Hanzo thought a moment, his face getting pouty as he tried to comprehend what McCree had said back to him. “ _The house I grew up in was worth less than that_.”

“ _I never really thought about it. That isn’t even the most expensive piece of art in the house_ .” Hanzo chuckled when McCree just stared at him blankly again, “ _they grew into that. They have been in my family for generations, we only know what they are worth because my grandfather had them appraised when my father was young_.”

“Jesus Christ.” McCree let Hanzo take his hand and lead him away from the scroll on the wall, but McCree’s eyes stayed on it until they turned a corner. The newer portion of, again, the mansion that Hanzo lived in seemed to have more modern amenities, the air moved better, and the walls didn’t seem as old. Hanzo led him down a hallway which opened up at the end, looking down at a more traditional looking Western living room with a sofa and a TV and one of those coffee tables with a blanket. The kind he’d seen in commercials with people laying underneath them.

Hanzo led him down a short set of stairs and turned sharply into a wide doorway which led to a much more modest kitchen with a table tucked in one corner. Genji sat at the head of the table, already eating and in his school uniform. He didn’t even look up until he started to say good morning, but he cut himself off, gaping at McCree and dropping whatever he’d had in his chopsticks on the table.

“ _Don’t do that_ ,” Hanzo said. Their mother bustled out of the kitchen, brandishing a large knife this time instead of the sword and ordered Hanzo and McCree to sit down. So they both did, sliding into the bench that was against one wall so that McCree was on Genji’s right and Hanzo’s left, both of them leaning in as if they were ready to defend McCree if necessary.

“ _Did she do the sword thing_ ?” Genji whispered. Hanzo just nodded quickly and Genji looked up at McCree. “I _would have run_.”

McCree blinked at Genji a moment, and then looked back at Hanzo panicked, but he just waved it off.

“ _Genji, don’t try to scare him_.” Hanzo admonished, but Genji shrugged and glanced at their mother.

“ _I was just being honest_.” Genji straightened up when their mother came back, setting a few different dishes on the table before she walked back to get rice. McCree admittedly, got a little excited at the prospect of home cooked food, even if it wasn’t American food, it still had to be better than convenience store food. McCree naturally followed Genji’s lead, straightening up and then staying like that, because he knew he usually hunched up whenever he sat at a real table. It was just a response to how he’d been raised. He often had to duck at dinner.

“ _So I’ll take that you also know my younger son as well then?_ ” Hanzo’s mother smiled sweetly at McCree, setting down a bowl of rice on the table. He’d obviously gone from threat to friend somehow, he didn’t exactly understand how she’d deemed him not a threat, but he wasn’t complaining about her no longer brandishing a sword.

“ _Ah, yes, we’ve met through Hanzo_.” McCree glanced at Genji, who looked mortified he’d been caught in all of this. Hanzo made it a point not to look at his mother, instead, picking up his rice and starting to eat, which McCree took to mean he could to. He did his best to keep his eyes down, he’d learned in the crash course that direct eye contact can be considered rude. Normally, he’d get away with it when he forgot because he was so obviously a foreigner, but right now he needed to make a good impression, which was much more complicated when he only knew half the language and some of the social queues.

Hanzo’s mother hummed and glanced at Hanzo, who seemed to be surprisingly calm despite how much pressure his mother had them both under. “ _I am not surprised in that case_ ,” she said, “ _they are very close. What is your name_?”

“ _Jesse_ ,” McCree said. Hanzo’s mother stared until she added, “ _Jesse McCree. Sorry, my last name isn’t easy to translate_.”

“ _Most Western names aren’t. What are you doing in Japan Jesse_?” She looked him over more carefully and then took a seat across from them. Hanzo and Genji both seemed to be in different states of denial. Hanzo kept eating like nothing was happening and Genji did his best not to look his mother in the eye. When Genji got the chance, he popped up from his seat and said he needed to leave for school, which Hanzo’s mother seemed to accept easily.

“ _School,_ ” McCree said. The look Hanzo gave him didn’t say anything, but he seemed mildly surprised. School was McCree’s actual cover, he had been honest with Hanzo when he had told him he was in Japan for work.

“ _Ah, so are you attending the University in Hanamura_?” Hanzo’s mother picked up her own bowl of rice, beginning to eat. McCree had been talking a bit too much, but the more questions he was asked, the more he relaxed. Hanzo’s mother honestly just seemed curious. Like any good parent would be if they found someone in bed with their kid.

“ _Yes, ma’am_.” McCree shuffled a tiny bit and took some of the fish with the back ends of his chopsticks, which he admittedly wasn’t good at, but Hanzo had told him it was polite at some point. He was lucky that memory came back in this moment as he dropped the fish into his bowl of rice.

“ _You can call me Tomoe_ ,” She said. That seemed to catch Hanzo’s attention, his head popping up to look at his mother instead of hiding himself behind his food. “ _What are you studying_?”

“ _Yes ma’am. Japanese._ _I know Spanish and English, I want to be a translator_ ,” McCree said. Hanzo shot him another look, this one caught Tomoe’s attention, tilting her head at her son in a way that made him jolt.

“ _Is something the matter Hanzo_?” She had a look on her face that was serene, so much so that it was starting to make McCree nervous too.

“ _No_ , _sorry_.” Hanzo somehow matched Tomoe’s expression, his eyes going right back to his food. Just to be safe, McCree shoveled a piece of fish and some rice into his mouth so he wouldn’t have to talk for a moment. His lies always came out smooth, but he was reminding himself of his full cover before she asked him more questions.

“ _I suppose Hanzo didn’t tell you_ ,” Tomoe’s voice was even, and while McCree was not looking at him, he felt Hanzo freeze solid next to him, “ _that you’re the only one who has ever come down with him for breakfast after I have threatened them with a sword_.”

“ _How many have there been_?” It came out before he even thought, and honestly, the way Hanzo twitched and Tomoe laughed, McCree probably said it with just the right amount of bewilderment.

“ _Was there a point to all of this_ ? _Or are you just trying to embarrass me_?” Hanzo, red in the face as he smacked his bowl down on the table, actually had his eyes on his mother now. Tomoe seemed pretty content to keep giggling at her embarrassed son though, and McCree did not want to risk getting involved in this part of the conversation.

“ _No, I was mostly trying to embarrass you_.” Tomoe had that blank stare on her face Hanzo got sometimes when he was messing with McCree, her chopsticks going out to take more of the fish. McCree did his best to hide in his bowl of rice, figuring that it was better than dealing with the staring contest going on between his boyfriend and his boyfriend’s mother. Or well, if boyfriend was the right word for Hanzo in that moment. They hadn’t talked about it yet.

“ _All right_ ,” Tomoe said, “ _stop looking at me like that. I’m just trying to keep you and Genji safe._ ” She waved Hanzo off when he tried to interject something, her whole demeanor relaxing slightly. “ _Get a sense of humor Hanzo. Also, the two of you have my approval, just try to avoid running into your father, you know how he can be_.”

“ _I am very aware_.” Hanzo said. Tomoe broke out laughing again, standing up as she shook her head.

She reached over the table to muss Hanzo’s hair, her shoulders still shaking from laughter. “Don’t be so sinister kid, you’re only twenty.”

McCree laughed, promptly cutting it off when Hanzo turned to glare at him. McCree went right back to hiding in his rice bowl, taking a few more pieces of fish and some pickled vegetables as Tomoe set her dishes in the sink alongside Genji’s.

“ _Thank you for breakfast_ ,” McCree said as Tomoe slipped her sword back on her belt. It had been left leaning on a cabinet apparently. She smiled at McCree kindly, mussing up Hanzo’s hair again, much to his dismay.

“ _Of course, feel free to eat with us anytime McCree_ ,” Tomoe smiled, “ _and don’t worry, I will get Sojiro on your side without him knowing it_ . _Put your dishes in the sink Hanzo_.”

“ _Yes_ ,” Hanzo said it obediently, trying to smooth his hair back down.

McCree blinked, watching her leave curiously. He sort of wondered if she was maybe the one who’d contacted Overwatch, but he really didn’t have any evidence other than a feeling. Either way, it seemed like she could be a powerful ally, and he took quick note of it.

“ _She seems nice_ ,” McCree looked back at Hanzo and he just huffed.

“ _Yeah, she is_.” Hanzo said it so softly that McCree barely even caught it, sincere and almost tired. Hanzo’s face, reserved, stayed on his food, his hair still slightly out of place from his mom, but the sober look on his face sold him out. McCree didn’t want to mention it, Hanzo clearly had introspection on his parents that McCree would probably never understand.

McCree finished eating, Hanzo chattering to him quietly about how he didn’t have lessons of any sort that day. At some point, that meant McCree got roped into going with him to the grocery store since Hanzo had to make dinner for Genji that night. Something about their mom going to take care of their grandmother, he lost Hanzo’s tracks when he started using words in Japanese that McCree didn’t know.

“ _Are you listening_?” Hanzo said, gathering up their dishes and washing everything in the sink.

“ _Sorry, you lost me at some point._ _My Japanese still isn’t perfect_.” McCree dried things off as Hanzo handed him. He had been told to do so with a universal thrust of a dry towel into his hands.

“ _Ah, sorry_. Maybe I should just speak English,” Hanzo said, “I was saying that with my mother out today too, you could stay here again tonight if you would like.”

“Thank you,” McCree sighed, “I swear, I’m going to forget to speak English by the time I’m back and only know a sixth grader’s Japanese.” Hanzo laughed, his face getting that sweet look that McCree loved so much.

“That is concerning, you should work on finding someone to speak to in English regularly,” Hanzo said and set a plate in McCree’s hands. “Did you want to stay? We could buy beer or sake.”

“Yeah that sounds nice,” McCree said, “do we need to worry about the guards seeing me.”

“Not if my mother already knows about you.” Hanzo set the last clean bowl in McCree’s hands and started to put away what he’d already dried, moving around the kitchen easily. McCree was a bit surprised that a family of his rank and money didn’t employ a chef, or people to run the kitchen. That might have been a TV thing though, that rich people always had cooks and never picked up a finger. Hanzo’s family didn’t really seem that way at all the more McCree got to know them.

“Can I ask you something about your mom?” McCree was stacking similar things and offering them to Hanzo in groups now.

“Sure.” Hanzo looked focused on what he was doing, but he glanced at McCree briefly.

“Well, I guess it’s about your parents actually.” McCree scratched his head, “they’re both trained with a sword right, which one would you say is better?”

Hanzo laughed, “my mother. That is a definite.”

McCree hummed softly, handing Hanzo the serving plate the fish had been on. He watched him get on a step stool to get it into a high cabinet and then he hopped down, heading for the last thing he had to put away.

“Are you wondering why my parents are together right now?” Hanzo asked it like he could read McCree’s mind, and while that thought thoroughly shook McCree, he knew that Hanzo had just guessed well.

“Sorta,” McCree said, “seems like an odd couple, someone who loves their kids so dearly and someone who abuses them. My parents always presented a united front on how terribly they treated us, sometimes I felt like they were having a competition on who could be worst.”

Hanzo gave him a very serious look and glanced around the kitchen briefly, “don’t, say things like that in the house. You are lucky you said it in English.”

“Sorry,” McCree looked around as well and Hanzo waved it off a bit.

“It is fine. But my parents marriage was arranged entirely based on the fact that my mother was a four time kendo champion in high school.” Hanzo wiped some of the water off the sink and hung the towel up, “at this point, she is here to make sure that the clan elders don’t get their hands on Genji and I before we know what right and wrong is. I think, she does love my father though.” McCree nodded at Hanzo’s thoughtful face, but then Hanzo shrugged and brought up the supermarket again, so they let the subject drop.

“Would you mind if I made curry?” Hanzo, wrist deep in a recipe box that he’d gotten from one of the cabinets, looked up at McCree for some kind of confirmation.

“I don’t care what you make,” McCree said, “it’s the first time in months I’ll actually be getting food that I didn’t buy from a convenience store or at a restaurant.”

“Has is really been that long?” Hanzo pulled the recipe for the curry out of his mother’s box, setting it aside and setting the box back in the cabinet. He started to scribble down a grocery list on a separate sheet of paper, “also, can’t you cook?”

“Have you seen my kitchen? I don’t even have an oven.” McCree leaned on the counter, his arms folded. Hanzo seemed to consider that a moment, looking around his kitchen and then back at McCree.

“We don’t have an oven either,” Hanzo said, “we cook fine.” McCree twitched, looking around the room, Hanzo wasn’t wrong.

“Wait so how do you…” McCree furrowed his brow, “how do you guys make cake or like…” He tried to think of anything that he’d seen Japanese people eating that had to be made in an oven.

“I’ve never made a cake.” Hanzo looked over his grocery list and wandered over to the fridge to check for a few things. “We always buy cake from the bakery.”

“Wait so you’ve never had your mom bake you a birthday cake?” McCree asked. Hanzo stared at him, owlish and confused.

“Is that a normal custom in America?”

“Yeah? I mean, it didn’t last very long in my house, I think I stopped gettin’ them at like five or six, but everyone else in school got one every year.” McCree rubbed the back of his neck, trying to remember when they hit the point that they were too poor to even buy what they needed to make a cake. Hanzo stared at him still, now his eyes moved from confused to apologetic.

“When is your birthday?” Hanzo asked. McCree came back to the reality of Hanzo’s family kitchen with a snap and shook his head.

“Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a pity party,” McCree said, “got stuck in my own head.”

“Yes, I saw that, but when is your birthday Jesse?” Hanzo had his eyes on McCree’s in that way he'd figured out could make McCree tell him just about any information he wanted to know.

“August eighteenth.” McCree gave Hanzo a sheepish look, “please don't, make a big deal out of it.”

“I won't, but you know that's only a couple weeks away, right?” Hanzo actually looked hopeful now, like he’d realized they might get to celebrate McCree’s birthday together. McCree let that be, he hadn't heard a word about extraction yet, so it was likely they would get to. He even sort of liked the idea, getting to spend his birthday with a boyfriend instead of pretending it wasn’t happening, or having Fareeha and Ana trying to plan a surprise party for him.

“Is it? I've lost track of the date,” McCree said.

“It’s July twenty ninth,” Hanzo said and smiled, “you realize it’s been almost eight months since we met.”

“Jesus, have I been here that long?” McCree blinked at the wall, trying to work out the numbers, but Hanzo just laughed and confirmed it. He’d really just fallen into a routine he liked, which meant he didn’t bother checking the date unless he was writing fake reports for Reyes.

“Stop thinking so much.” Hanzo brought McCree out of his own head with a kiss, his hands on McCree’s chest, “come on, I’m ready to go.”

McCree smiled, leaning down to catch Hanzo in another kiss. “Okay, okay,” McCree said, “I guess if ya’ really want to be all domestic and shit we’ll need to go shopping. Let me tell you, you guys are missing out on the ‘parents aren’t home’ pizza night.”

Hanzo laughed, leading him out of the kitchen and into the large living room, “what happened to your sudden love for home cooked meals?”

“You know what? Never mind, forget I said anything about pizza.” McCree spoke quick, waving off the confused look he got from Hanzo. Once he’d realized McCree was being sarcastic, Hanzo laughed though, it was something they were working on in English.

“Ah, I see. Well in that case, I promise to try to not burn this curry,” Hanzo said.

“Not the best cook?” McCree followed Hanzo to his front door, where they quickly decided that McCree could just wear Hanzo’s shoes because it was close enough and the walk wasn’t far. McCree’s were still in Hanzo’s bedroom, probably tossed somewhere that would make them difficult to find anyway. They had been rather into frantically tearing each other’s clothes off lately.

“I don’t really have the chance to practice,” Hanzo said, “it is the one thing i am not forced to constantly take drills and lessons on.”

He led McCree out into the large courtyard, McCree’s eyes bulging as they slide over the grounds just outside Hanzo’s house. The front still looked traditional as ever, the large wooden gate leading out to the ramen stand McCree had waited for Hanzo at a million times before. The stand was beginning to feel like a second home to McCree, but it felt so strange walking through the front gates of Hanzo’s family to to see the odd little mascot in front of him. It was a bit of cultural whiplash he figured.

Hanzo led him down a busy street to the grocery store, where he promptly handed McCree a basket to hold. He then poked through the store slowly, McCree didn’t really mind, Hanzo seemed really focused on the produce though, and mostly did not respond to McCree’s jokes until they had made their way into the aisles that did not have vegetables in them.

“What else do we need?” McCree asked, because he hadn’t really gotten much response from Hanzo otherwise, but the basket was getting heavy.

“Sake and we should get snacks for before dinner.” Hanzo looked over his list briefly, and then carefully took the basket from McCree, checking that he’d gotten everything. McCree watching his hair falling off his shoulders, until Hanzo caught him and stuck his tongue out at McCree, “do not look at me like that in public.”

Hanzo followed his comment with a sickly sweet smile and then turned down an aisle to grab chips and junk food for Genji, and probably to hide in the stash he had in his own room. McCree felt the laughter bubble up in him, he always tried not to be too loud when it did in stores, they always felt so small in Japan and his voice felt so big sometimes. Hanzo still had that mischievous look on his face, throwing all sorts of candy into the basket as he walked down the aisle.

“Why can’t I look at you like that in public?” McCree leaned into Hanzo’s space a bit when he got close enough, his hands on his hips, admonishing Hanzo like a kid. Hanzo looked up at him, and without missing a beat, he leaned back into McCree’s space.

“Because I can tell exactly what you are thinking about and it’s not appropriate for a supermarket.” Hanzo punctuated his comment by crossing his arms, somehow holding the basket on his wrist as he did it.

“Thinking about how much I like playing with your hair isn’t appropriate for a supermarket?” McCree, triumphant, watched Hanzo’s face turn pink and then red, travelling all the way up to his ears and down his neck. He blinked, bashful suddenly and trying to form words to be cheeky back at McCree, but he couldn’t. Hanzo gawked at him a moment, and then turned with a huff, heading down the aisle grabbing three more bags of chips and some more candy as he went before he swung around to the next aisle without looking at McCree.

When McCree caught up with him, he was doing that muttering thing where he mostly complained about how sweet and stupid McCree was in Japanese. He stayed playfully frustrated until they were buying alcohol, asking McCree what he wanted and then grabbing a few bottles of wine after some deliberation. McCree had a feeling a couple of the bottles of sake were going into that stash Hanzo had hidden in his room. From what McCree could tell, he occasionally lived off of it if he was so inclined.

They finished out paying an amount of money that McCree didn’t want to admit to, Hanzo adding Kit Kats onto the pile at the last minute. By the time they were outside with six bags and the entire town between them and Hanzo’s home, they’d realized their mistake. However, both McCree and Hanzo were too proud to admit it, stomping down the sidewalk leading back to the grand Shimada estate while people gave them nervous looks about the amount of food they had with them.

They loaded up the fridge as soon as they got back, and McCree helped Hanzo hide all of the junk food that they weren’t allowed to have before Hanzo spent at least an hour trying to explain the layout of the estate to McCree. Eventually, Hanzo had to show him a map because it was the only way McCree was ever going to make any sense of all the hidden tunnels.

After a short tour of the hidden tunnels, all of which were marked with what looked like centuries old writing that Hanzo used to navigate, it felt like the day sped up. Hanzo started to cook dinner at five and Genji getting home shortly after that, the sun would soon start to go down in the distance despite the fact that McCree was convinced there had to be more day left.

Genji stuck close to them, he seemed wary of the guards that sometimes wandered through the kitchen. Though, each guard seemed to feel the need to pause and look at Hanzo as if they were about to admonish him for cooking, so McCree and Genji began to make a game out of scaring the guards from the kitchen. At least one of them though paused to size McCree up in a way that led McCree to believe he might have been one of the guards caught in Hanzo’s bed in the past. Hanzo, who didn’t seem to appreciate the joke, promptly got them to stop. By then Genji was at ease though, sitting on a counter top and asking Hanzo questions about the curry.

“ _Are you putting carrots in it?_ ” Genji kicked his legs gently, sitting as close as he could to Hanzo without being in a spot that would cause trouble.

“ _Yes, I am following mom’s recipe_ ,” Hanzo said, his look getting suspicious, “ _why?_ ”

Genji pouted and narrowed his eyes at Hanzo, “ _I hate carrots_.”

“ _They’re already in the curry, just eat them_.” Hanzo and Genji locked eyes for a long second and McCree took a step back. He couldn’t have been paid to get involved in the squabble he knew was coming, which resulted in Hanzo sliding his younger brother along the counter until Genji plopped into the sink with a screech. Genji flailed, struggling to find purchase on the back of the sink so he could push out of the deep steel trap he’d found himself in, his legs at an odd, upwards angle with his knees hanging over the front of the counter. He was trapped like a kid pushed ass-first into a water trough, not that McCree had experienced that himself, of course.

“ _Hanzo_ ,” Genji whined, “ _you got me stuck!_ ”

“ _It is your own fault_.” Hanzo kept his eyes on his pot of curry, leaving Genji to gape at Hanzo and continue to make distressed noises until McCree lifted him out of the sink.

“ _Rude_.” Genji stuck his tongue out at Hanzo as he tried to pat the wet spots off of his uniform pants. Luckily, he didn’t seem to have anything else on them but water, so he ran off to change before they ate, despite Hanzo telling him he should have to sit in wet pants as a punishment.

By the time they sat down to eat, the sun went down in the window just outside the kitchen, casting the whole table in orange and keeping them nice and warm. The curry new to McCree, but satisfying in a way that only home cooking could be. McCree couldn’t believe that of all things Hanzo could do well, he hadn’t expected cooking to be one of them.

When they had finished, Genji cleared the table and offered to do the dishes, asking only that Hanzo and McCree dry and put things away. McCree could feel it again, that creeping feeling of domesticity, even when Genji followed them up to Hanzo’s room to play video games they apparently weren’t supposed to have and eat the junk food that wasn’t allowed in the house, McCree could feel the home life begin to seep into him and make him warm.

McCree sort of wondered how much of this Hanzo did entirely because he never really had much of a childhood himself. He might have been trying to give what he didn’t have to Genji, and there was something commendable about that. When Genji had eaten three boxes of pocky by himself though, and they’d spent a good deal of time playing mario cart because they thought it was hilarious that McCree couldn’t read any of the text, Genji crawled out from under the kotatsu and sent himself to bed.

Hanzo only pulled out the bottle of sake then, the two of them staying up talking like old lovers about how much they enjoyed their time together, and sipped the warm wine until they were both sleepy and red in the face.

It was McCree who got up first though, Hanzo slumped over the table with his eyes still open. “C’mon Han,” he said, “ _let’s go to bed_.”

Hanzo hummed and pouted at him for a moment, “ _all right._ ”

He seemed like he didn’t want the night to be over, and McCree honestly couldn’t blame him as he helped Hanzo wobble to his futon and fall face first into it. “ _I am too drunk to have sex_ ,” Hanzo said as he peeled off his robe and tried to climb under the blankets.

“ _Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to have sex while either of us were this drunk._ ” McCree dropped his jeans and followed Hanzo into the bed, “c’mere.”

Hanzo hummed softly as McCree pulled his back flush with his chest, Hanzo curling into the pillows and settling himself. “ _You are too sweet to me_ ,” Hanzo mumbled, “ _I don’t deserve it_.”

“ _Yeah you do_ . _Now go to sleep, you’re drunk_ ,” McCree said. Hanzo chuckled and turned around enough to peck McCree on the lips before he settled into the pillows. He went out like a light, his hair laying on McCree’s face until McCree moved it so he could go to sleep himself. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever been happier in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

_ “You can’t stay with him,” Gabe said, the familiar click of his tongue when he started to speak rapid Spanish at McCree pushed him through the emotions so he could focus on Gabe’s words. “Are you fucking stupid? God have you been contacting him on missions?” _

_ “No, I ain’t stupid.”  _

_ Gabe growled, snatching the cell phone out of McCree’s hand and looking it over, “you have been, I’ve already looked at the records.” McCree stared at him, watching the flash of the photo of Hanzo on his lock screen. “Well, I hope you can live with what you’ve done McCree.”  _

_ “What do you mean?” McCree’s eyes slid to the phone briefly, and then they jerked back to Gabe’s. Gabe’s face went cold, opening the back of the phone and taking the battery out before he handed it back to McCree.  _

_ “Blackwatch has been approved. You and I are the first to go dark.” Gabe dunked the battery into the glass of water sitting on his desk and picked up a handful of papers. McCree went numb, his figure shivering slowly as the anxiety travelled up his body from his toes to his shoulders. He didn’t realize he’d jumped up until the chair fell back behind him, his hands gripping the table so hard he couldn’t see straight.  _

_ “I, you can’t.” McCree’s voice was louder than he’d ever heard it, “I didn’t agree to that.”  _

_ Gabe looked momentarily guilty, and then he took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, mijo,” he said, “you agreed when you left the Deadlocks. There’s nothing either of us can do.” _

_ “But Jack-”  _

_ “No, this is higher than Jack.” Gabe met McCree’s eyes, and he shook his head, “I told you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Gabe’s frame began to waver, the whites of his eyes slowly turning black as he began to drip on the floor. McCree backed up to the wall, his hands hitting the stone as he felt the crawling feeling in his stomach. Gabe flew at him, screaming, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”  _

  
  


McCree woke up on the floor of his dirty motel room, feeling the sand he’d dragged in on his boots scratching against his face while he tried to gather his wits. Nearly everything hurt, but the pounding in his head hurt the worst and he needed the screaming pain to stop before he could do anything that day. 

“Good lord,” McCree forced himself onto his feet, his left hand smacking the handle on the dated dresser next to him, making a heavy metal clang. “Fuck.” 

He stabilized himself on the wall, making his way to the bathroom and smacking his knees on the floor as he fell in front of the toilet to vomit until he could feel capillaries bursting in his temples. McCree had only experienced this a few times, his hands rustling around on the counter blindly between heaves until he found the bottle of tums, and the excedrin. Three tums and two excedrin, followed by two more tums could easily his least favorite way to start a morning, but at least by the time he had laid himself out on the bathroom floor he at least could feel the pain start to slip away as the Aspirin and caffeine pumped through his blood. 

When he woke up after a short bathroom floor nap, his stump getting cold from his metal arm lying on the cool tile floors, he couldn’t bring himself to do much but stare at the ceiling and move his arm to his chest so his stump wouldn’t get colder. He stared, his eyes on the toxic popcorn finish on the drywall until he could remember the night before. 

“I gotta stop drinking ‘till I black out.” He rubbed his forehead with his cold metal arm, the body temperature unit in it had obviously failed at some point, but it wasn’t likely he would travel anywhere cold enough for that to matter any time soon. McCree could probably track down Angela if he needed to, and if not her, contacting Winston usually went easy so long as he could get ahold of Lena. He grounded himself by listing all his old friends for a moment, and sat up, pushing his long bangs out of his face and then sliding his hand down the back of his head. Things were starting to grow out, his hair, his beard, his stomach. He needed to start working out again, keeping himself cleaned up, but it probably wouldn’t happen.

He got himself up, taking a deep breath as he stared into the mirror. He could hear Gabe’s voice telling him to leave again, leave, leave leave, over and over again, all in Gabe’s voice, no. In the voice that replaced Gabe’s voice. His head filled with the voice he didn’t recognize until he pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head hard. McCree stared himself down in the mirror, “don’t do that.” 

McCree found peacekeeper, slipping her in the holster once he had it on before he tugged his serape around his shoulders. The serape protected him from notice, Los Muertos didn’t pay much attention to a lone, former Deadlock hanging around. But it probably helped that he’d lost that tattoo with his arm over a year ago now. They might have not even known who he was. 

The mid-summer Dorado sun baked everything in the town like clay in a kiln. The people there all wore light weight clothes or sleeves to protect themselves from the harsh sunlight, but none of it actually did anything for any of them. They all baked and they all constantly had sweat rolling down their backs and crotch and forehead, so McCree lived with the heavy serape on. He got strange looks here or there, but once he had slipped into the alleyways it didn’t really matter, nobody paid attention to a shadow. 

He took a back way to Castillo, heading North East until he found himself in a part of town that felt like it came from a different era than the rest of Dorado. The open architecture allowed the water and beaches to cool it, and while the statue in the center always made McCree uncomfortable, he liked the area quite a bit. McCree hadn’t spent a lot of time tracking this hacker down, honestly, she probably thought she of herself too clever. That made her easier to find, old habits die hard and as McCree had learned, they often lead to the same place. His hat shifted on his head, the sea air blowing just a little bit harder now, his eyes on the buildings tagged by gangs trying to lay down territory. He remembers the small amount of time that Deadlock controlled Dorado’s illegal arms market, that obviously wasn’t the case anymore. Los Muertos owned everything in Dorado now. 

The alley grew narrow, curving out and cutting into small outlets where one could easily hide an entrance. He’d seen the tags before, they grew more and more familiar until he found the paint that he’d read about online. McCree tugged a flashlight out of his pocket, the black light struggling in the alley because of the late afternoon sun. He could still see what he needed to though, white lettering glowing just enough to lead him. 

He followed the trail, into an outlet where she’d hidden a door. He had to admit, it would go unnoticed just walking down the alleyway or to the untrained eye, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t the same old trick she’d used for years. His hand on Peacekeeper, the flashlight back in his pocket, he typed in the old code she’d used so many times before. To McCree’s surprise, the door popped open in a way that found him glancing directly at a camera hidden in the frame. 

“ _ I see you’re still as quick as ever. No matter how well I hide my cameras, it’s like your eyes are drawn to them. _ ” The voice, smooth and confident, came from a speaker alongside the camera. McCree grimaced at it, stepping into the room with his hand still on Peacekeeper. “ _ Now, now, no need for that. I might not have been your biggest fan when we were both doing our best to survive however we could, but I’m rather impressed with your work now _ .” 

“Can it, Olivia,” McCree said, his eyes darting around the dark room. He was surprised to find her in a desk chair, dark colored joggers and a tank top, she hadn’t even bothered to armor up, then again, McCree hadn’t either, “I’m not here to make a friend.” 

“Please call me Sombra if you’re going to be like that.” Olivia grimaced, turning around in her chair and stretching her arms and wrists, “ _ why aren’t you speaking Spanish? You’re that opposed to being friendly with me _ ?” She pouted, her legs dropping from the desk chair, sweeping up her gun in the same motion, which McCree didn’t really mind. That thing might be automatic, but McCree knew he had the faster draw. Fighting always ended in an impasse between them, so he figured she wasn’t about to be picking a physical fight. 

“I ain’t here to condone anything you’re doing with Talon,” McCree said, “you know what I care about, so give me the information I want.” 

Olivia groaned and slumped her shoulders forward, “ _when did you get to be such a grump?_ _I can’t believe I actually miss your Blackwatch days._ ” She slipped a flash drive from her pocket. 

“I sure as hell don’t,” McCree said, “hand that over.” 

“ _ Ah, ah. This isn’t what you’re looking for. This is just something you might be interested in _ ,” Olivia’s smile grew callous. McCree should have guessed she’d do something like this.  

“Just give me what I came for.” McCree’s voice felt louder in the small, dark space, but Olivia didn’t look shaken. She glanced at her glowing computer screen and her callous smile hit her eyes in a way that McCree didn’t like. 

“ _ Are you sure? I think you might be more interested in this _ ,” there was a teasing lilt to her voice, “ _ I mean, a vaquero and a ninja is a strange sight I’m sure, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on love.”  _

“What the fuck are you talking about?” McCree’s eyes lowered, his mind going fifty miles a minute. He could think of things it might mean of course, but she wouldn’t be offering him info on Genji, McCree had a relative idea of where he wound up, and she would know that. 

“ _ An offer. In lieu of the information you wanted, and I’ll even throw in a false identity for your safe passage to Hanamura, take the location of Hanzo Shimada instead. _ ” Olivia waved the flash drive, and then swept a passport off the table next to her. 

McCree laughed, dry and slow as he set his hands on his belt, “are ya’ really stupid enough to think I’d buy that?” 

“ _I know you’ll believe it, because it’s the truth_.” Olivia curled her fingers around the flash drive again, setting her gun down on the table again. She took a step towards McCree, “ _don’t you miss him?_ _I’m sure he misses the young love he so desperately tried to find when you went dark_.” 

“The entirety of the Shimada clan is dead.” McCree watched Olivia move, looking for her tells, no quirk of her brow, not even a wiggle from her trigger finger. She wasn’t lying. Or at the very least, she truly believed in the information she had. 

“ _ Except for the younger brother, of course? I thought you of all people would understand that sometimes people get listed as dead when they’ve really just disappeared _ ,” Olivia smirked. 

“Why do you want to give me this instead of the info I was lookin’ for? What’s in this for you?” McCree leaned back, crossing his arms and chuckling, “you know what, nevermind. I get it, you don’t want me lookin’ for answers. Did I get too close to your precious Talon? So you’re trying to ‘handle this quietly’?” 

Olivia’s face dropped, her nose scrunched as she grimaced at McCree. He’d hit the nail on the head obviously, her expressions read like a book once you’d known her long enough, and McCree was happy he had suddenly. If she really had some info on Hanzo, he might finally get some closure. 

“ _ What do you want _ ?” Olivia grumbled. 

“Easy,” McCree shrugged, “plane ticket. Oh, and I’ll be back for the info I wanted originally if this doesn’t check out.” 

She looked surprised, just momentarily and then she set her hands on her hips. Olivia clicked her teeth, a pout still on her lips, “fine.” Obviously, she really had confidence in this lead on Hanzo. McCree would just be back after the wild goose chase anyway, so he didn’t know why she’d bother to lie about it.

Olivia spun on her heels, and in a few quick clicks on her keyboard, she had a confirmation for the plane ticket. She shoved all of it, flash drive included, into McCree’s hands and sat herself back at the desk. The computer screens illuminated her face in a way that made her look younger, her shoulders hunched again as she pulled up documents and started to fill in more information. “ _ You’re going to have to clean up to use that passport _ .” 

“Course, you know I clean up nice Olivia,” McCree said. 

“ _ I told you to stop calling me that _ .” Olivia shot him a dirty look as he headed out, taking note there of the driver’s license inside the passport too. Hanamura in the Summer, McCree smiled. “ _ I’m calling you Joel from now on _ ,” Olivia grumbled.

McCree paused in the door, looking back at the small woman in the desk chair and chuckled, “Joel ain’t my name.” 

“ _ Liar _ .” Olivia stamped her foot on the ground as she turned her chair to face McCree again. 

“I ain’t lying Olivia,” McCree said, “it’s not my name. Hasn’t been in a long time.” 

She blinked at him, that look of surprise she’d had on her face earlier coming over her for a moment before she covered it up again. McCree didn’t pay her any mind from there, waving a bit as he turned out the door again. 

“See you around, Liv’,” McCree stepped back out into the evening sun, his eyes adjusting to the light before he could head off to catch a cab. 

Back at his motel room, he jammed the flash drive into the shitty laptop he carried and started to go through the photos and information Olivia had gathered. McCree knew this could only be described as selfish, self serving, idiotic, and potentially reckless. The man wore a mask, all the photos were blurry, but he certainly fought like Hanzo did, no sword, just a bow, and taking out anyone in sight without hesitation or struggle. The guy in the footage didn’t miss a shot in a single in any of the videos McCree looked over.

He didn’t dwell on it long, shaving, combing out his hair and tying it back into a little ponytail he gathered up all his worldly possessions and left the motel after paying. The airport wasn’t far, he had five hours until his flight took off, so he got himself some food and made sure his bag was checked properly. Travel got easier when he could pretend to be Dr. Morricone, he’d have to hang onto the passport and driver’s license when this probably turned out to be yet another dead end he’d followed in hopes of finding Hanzo. Really, he should just give up at this rate. 

But he was stupid, he always had been, and while he knew it was most likely Hanzo had been killed by Genji with the rest of the Shimada clan in a rage so white hot Genji wasn’t even sure who he’d slaughtered, McCree still went looking for Hanzo anytime something turned up. He ate in the airport, slept in one of the seats at the gate for a while, and then passed out for the entirety of the plane ride. 

When he woke up, the runway in Tokyo shimmered in the mid-morning sun, his eyes following the line of the airport terminals until he found himself shuffling off to get his bag. No one had noticed Peacekeeper inside, McCree had taken it apart into too many pieces. The ride to Hanamura felt long, his hands antsy as the taxi driver tried to make small talk at him. His Japanese had grown unfortunately rusty, he hadn’t even spoken Japanese with Genji in a long time. 

Stepping out in front of the Rikimaru Ramen stand felt like a betrayal to Genji for not bringing him with, then again, the fact that McCree secretly hoped he’d find Hanzo was probably more the betrayal than not buying Genji ramen. Looking over the little mascot and walking himself around the town while he tried to find a cheap place to stay made everything he recognized feel wrong. He had gotten older, not a lot, but enough when he really thought about it. He hadn’t been to Hanamura since before he went dark, seven full years, and when he thought about the fall of Overwatch and his entire family simultaneously disappearing to their personal corners of the world in hopes of protecting themselves from the backlash, it really felt like a lot longer. 

At least McCree wasn’t a fugitive in Hanamura. He found a place to stay, a hotel room above an old traditional inn. It felt like a tourist-y spot, and McCree felt so unlike a tourist that it made his skin crawl in strange ways. Whenever he’d come back to Hanamura before, it was like coming home to an old friend. Now, it felt like some kind of personal self loathing or a punishment for going dark and letting Hanzo think he had died. 

He slept until he had found a more normal schedule for Hanamura, forcing himself up and into the tiny shower, then he put peacekeeper back together. Holstering her under some nicer clothes, making himself look like he belonged had never really worked in Hanamura, but  going for a black and sleek cowboy hat and fancy suits like he was trying to make a bad fashion statement usually had people writing him off as an idiot, just how he wanted. It also had the benefit of maintaining a style someone he used to know might recognize. Not that McCree ever really gave up the vaquero thing, even when they’d only dated for a short while, Hanzo seemed to understand. 

McCree paused in the mirror, tying a thick scarf around his neck in case he needed to hide his face fast. He had a mask in his pocket too, and it made him feel a bit like tuxedo mask with a cowboy theme. He may get strange looks from locals, he also managed to blend under the guise that he was in cosplay, several young girls muttering that to each other as he walked by. 

He stopped for dinner at the Rikimaru Ramen stand first, something about it drew him in like he needed to eat there, the same older man with a son about McCree’s age working behind the counter. Lives that didn’t move had always made McCree uncomfortable, people that he saw once a year in the same place over and over, but this, this didn’t bother him. Ordering and nodding thankfully as the boy, well, man now, about his age, set the ramen in front of him and thanked him for his patronage. 

These people had such a quiet life, and as he ate his ramen he thought about Genji. The Rikimaru Ramen Stand across from the entrance to his family home had been the first thing McCree had gotten Genji to talk about in the hospital. But McCree could see him lying in the medical bay shortly after he’d joined Overwatch and just before he’d found himself in Blackwatch. He could hear the sound of Genji’s wet breathing, his strained movements, the way tears streamed down his newly scarred face from the intensity of the pain. McCree shook his head, trying to shake the memory off permanently, but it wouldn’t let him breathe. The hollowness in Genji’s voice as he looked at McCree with recognition and then seemed hurt all over again. McCree swallowed a mouth full of noodles, closing his eyes and trying to focus on the flavor. 

_ “Hanzo did this to me _ .” 

McCree set his chopsticks down, he pressed the cold thumb of his metal hand into his right palm and squeezed hard enough to cause a bruise. When he forced himself to let go there were tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. The sound of Genji’s voice had gone, and now his metal hand moved to his sweaty forehead to try and bring his body temperature down.

“Sir.” McCree jerked, pushing his hat back a bit so he could look up at the man who had served him the ramen. “Are you okay?” He looked genuinely concerned, he even spoke to McCree in English, probably to ensure that McCree would understand, McCree nodded, shaking the rest of the memory off finally. 

“Yeah, sorry,” McCree said and when the man didn’t look convinced, he added, “I used to come to this stand all the time when I was a kid. I lived here a while when I was a teenager.” 

The man paused and then smiled a bit in a more genuine way, “did you wear a hat like this then too? I remember you.” 

“ _ Yes, I did _ ,” McCree said. He figured if he was going to hold a conversation with this man, he shouldn’t force him to speak English the whole time. “ _ I was good friends with Genji Shimada _ .” 

The man’s recognition went from happy to see an old face to blatantly sad, “ _ poor Genji. No one has seen him in years, we went to high school together. It seems like the whole family disappeared after his father passed _ .” McCree watched the man struggle with the memory for a moment. Then he smiled at McCree again, shaking his head. 

“ _ I am sorry, I didn’t mean to unload that on you _ .” He didn’t look like he would cry over it, but he did look like he might have more information about what may have happened in Hanamura after McCree joined Blackwatch and went dark. 

“ _ No it’s _ -” McCree heard a gun, he heard it click as someone readied it, and then he heard the first shot, the bullet whizzing through the door on the other side of the shop and sinking in the wooden counter. Screaming hit him next, a bowl shattered and he had peacekeeper out, sliding the scarf around his face and the mask on his eyes in a flash. “ _ Everyone down!” _

Everyone followed his order, hitting the ground as he drew. The first person in the shop who had probably also fired the first two shots by McCree’s guess, wore an oni mask. One shot to the shoulder and he’d dropped his gun, wailing in pain. But more gunshots rang outside, the sound paled in comparison to the sound of the people screaming and trying to get away. Now someone appeared in the door again, an omnic, his face covered as well. He had a gun in the shop owner’s face in a moment. 

The owner, to his respect, calmly tried to open the register and give them what he thought they’d want. The omnic didn’t seem interested in that though, his gun up in the owner’s face. “ _ Where is the man who lives upstairs? _ ” 

McCree frowned, trying to get a feel for the situation as the omnic just kept yelling at the owner. The owner, in turn, kept trying to give the omnic the money in the register. It didn’t take much longer for the owner’s son to get between the gun and his father. 

“ _ No one lives upstairs _ .” The man McCree had just been talking to, his eyes firm as the omnic raised his gun again. McCree had heard enough, and as he went to shoot the omnic to stop him from shooting the man McCree wanted to get information out of, an arrow sunk into the omnic’s back. McCree watched, the familiar sound of gears grinding against a foreign object and fuses rapidly fizzling out, as the omnic went down. 

He dropped from above the door frame on the outside of the stand, his hair shorter than the last time McCree had seen him. The hints of orange floating around the Kevlar armor her wore, the dragon that trapsed down the metal cover on his left arm, and then the bow, sleek and handcrafted and gripped in his left hand. He had an arrow at the ready in the other, his right arm being about the only spot exposed, the skin tanned save for a thick scar in the shape of two dragons eating each other’s tails on his shoulder. He might have had a mask on more than half his face, but McCree could recognize the way he moved, all his clothes gave him away, and McCree would never forget those eyes.

McCree’s breathing stopped for a moment, his gun out, and now the arrow turned to him. The popping sound of guns going off started to fade, his vision tunneling for a moment as he stared at the bow, the hand holding it, the arm, the shoulder, the eyes. For a moment, there wasn’t a person in front of him, there was just a collection of clues all shouting the answer and McCree couldn’t bring himself to form the answer just yet. He couldn’t even bring himself to say anything, and the only thing that stopped Hanzo Shimada from shooting him in the face was the owner’s son McCree had just been talking to. 

“ _ No not him, he tried to protect us _ ,” the man flailed his arms at Hanzo, and Hanzo, without a word nodded at the owner’s son before he headed back into the street. 

McCree followed, heading out the door on the other side, only to find three more men charging in. He rolled, the flurry of bullets barely missing him as he reloaded his gun and fanned bullets into their knees. Once he righted himself, he sprinted around the corner, working his way through a surprisingly large group of mobsters for just one little ramen stand. They were after Hanzo for some reason, and though McCree could make a few guesses as to why, he didn’t have time to think about them.

The first guy that came at McCree got a swift kick to the chest and a bullet in his collar bone, a flurry of shots coming from his left as he sprinted to a Rikimaru Ramen stand truck, rolling at the last second just to make sure no one could hit him. He stood there for a moment, catching his breath and hoping he could find Hanzo in the fray. Lucky for McCree, when he heard someone else’s back hit his side of the truck, he found it was that had Hanzo had joined him, an arrow clicked onto his bowstring and ready for someone if they came. 

“ _ What business do you have in this fight? _ ” Hanzo’s voice, harsh and lacking that lilt it always used to have when he spoke to McCree, granted they were a lot older now. But McCree couldn’t imagine that Hanzo hadn’t recognized him or figured it out by now. 

“ _ These assholes decided to shoot up my favorite ramen stand _ ,” McCree said, “ _ and you _ ?” He got a decidedly annoyed look from Hanzo, his eyes narrow and McCree could just imagine the way his lips scrunched in despite the mask. McCree remembered it well, because Hanzo used to shoot that same look at him all the time when they were still kids, of course, now it was emphasized by the start of crow’s feet and the weight of Hanzo’s bushy eyebrows. The look still held all the same miffed feeling that seemed to call McCree an idiot without Hanzo opening his mouth.  

“ _ I am the one they are after _ ,” Hanzo said. McCree blinked at him a moment, and then he watched as Hanzo activated something on his arrow, turning around the side of the truck and shooting into a group of armed men. He watched through the front window of the truck as the arrow broke in the middle of the group of gangsters, scattering and bouncing into them at odd angles, leaving them wailing as arrows hit knees and thighs or stomachs. Several of them fell to the ground on the spot lifeless and crumpled. Hanzo ran out after his arrow, and McCree didn’t hesitate to follow. 

He kept on Hanzo’s six, finding that the men had surrounded them while they’d hidden behind the truck. He couldn’t believe they’d sent this many men after one person, but as McCree watched Hanzo take down man after man, he started to understand why they had. Hanzo operated like a storm, a crash of thunder that shook everyone around him. McCree did his best to keep up, finding that Hanzo did not move like Genji at all, more like Ana, slinking and low like a stalking cat. So McCree matched that, his shots accurate as ever, but none of them fatal. He’d taken enough lives for his time. 

Then suddenly Police sirens rang out, and the gangsters that hadn’t taken an arrow or a bullet scattered. It had been a minute tops since they’d been behind the truck, of course it felt a lot longer. The relief of the Police showing up gave McCree the chance to relax, though, but he regretted pausing to breathe when he watched Hanzo scale a drain pipe and disappear into a window above the ramen stand. 

“Shit.” He scrambled back into the ramen shop, all the patrons now cowering behind the counter with the owner and his son. Which realistically, McCree found pretty smart. He jumped the counter and ran into the back area without really pausing to address the civilians though, he didn’t have the time. 

“ _ Wait, sir! Where are you going? _ ” He was pretty sure it was the owner’s son yelling, but McCree was already up the stairs and opening doors until he had opened them all without any sight of Hanzo. He stared into the last room for a moment, looking out the window he’d watched Hanzo climb into. He didn’t notice the other presence in the room until his back hit the tatami mats with a thud, a foot on his chest just adding to the pain and making him him heave. He felt the wind go out of him, his hands naturally grabbing onto Hanzo’s ankle as he looked up at his bow, his head spinning while he struggled for more oxygen. 

“ _ What are you doing? Why did you follow me? _ ” Hanzo shot a warning arrow next to his head, just grazing his cheek, but McCree found himself too woozy to even really notice. 

“ _ Do you really _ ,” McCree coughed and choked a moment, “ _ Hanzo, you don’t recognize me _ ?”

“ _ What the hell are you talking about, how do you know my name? _ ” Hanzo pressed more of his weight down on McCree’s chest, leaving him to cough and struggle more than he already had been.  __

“I ain’t gonna be able to tell ya’ shit if you keep doin’ that, now quit,” McCree hacked and shuddered, his vision starting to go dark. Had he hit his head? “Quit it.” 

Hanzo’s shoulders fell back, his eyes starting to look worried as he backed off. His bow still raised, but he took his foot off of McCree’s chest and stood over him waiting. 

“Jesus Christ,” McCree took a few good breathes before he started to explain anything. He couldn’t believe Hanzo didn’t recognize him, actually, it hurt quite a bit, but Hanzo did probably think that McCree had died years ago. He wasn’t sure why he’d built this up to be a happy reunion in his head. Maybe he just couldn’t help being hopeful. “ _ You’re just like your mother _ .” 

“ _ Get to the point, who are you? _ ” Hanzo turned his bow so that McCree could see him better behind it, and probably so Hanzo could see McCree. 

“ _ I never thought a scarf and a mask would be enough to make you forget me _ ,” McCree said, tugging on the scarf and then pushing the mask up, “ _ but honestly, I can’t be found in Japan, they’ll extradite me in an instant _ .” 

Hanzo’s eyes went from a worried anger to pure terror in a moment. “ _ You’re alive _ ?” 

“ _ Yeah, about that, you know Blackwatch _ ?” He knew that most of the Overwatch secrets were free knowledge nowadays, and while he’d never explicitly told Hanzo about Overwatch, it wasn’t like he’d hidden it in the last few years of their relationship either. McCree didn’t get a chance to elaborate, he probably deserved the kick to his jaw, but it left a rather distracting and searing pain, the kick rolling him over and leaving him cowering. 

“ _ What do you mean, ‘yeah about that’ I thought you were dead _ ,” Hanzo spat, “ _ I thought you had died with that team down in South America while you were working I mourned you Jesse McCree, if that even is your name _ .” 

“That is my fucking name, I don’t get why no one believes me _ , _ ” McCree got up on his elbows only to feel an arrow whip past his head and pin his hat into the ground. “Jesus fuck Hanzo.” 

“ _ Maybe because you lie about being dead _ ,” Hanzo snapped, another arrow already in his bow. 

“ _ Well I never fucking lied to you _ .” McCree spit back, using his metal hand to smack the bow aside even if Hanzo just whipped it back into his face, “ _ I know it’s been seven years Hanzo, but my entire life fell apart and it started with Gabriel Reyes dragging me into Blackwatch so I wouldn’t go to fucking jail where I probably would have gotten killed by a bunch of my former, fellow gang members _ .” 

“ _ Do not talk to me about your life falling apart I _ -.” Hanzo stopped, his eyes welling up with tears before he shook his head and shot another arrow into McCree’s hat _ ,  _ “ _ you were gone, my father died. I had no one and Genji, Genji followed you into Overwatch, he _ .” 

McCree slowed down, he couldn’t help softening for Hanzo because every fiber of his being still wanted to comfort Hanzo the way he did when they were young. He had wanted to be there for all of it. “ _ Genji didn’t follow me Hanzo, he joined of his own accord _ .” 

“ _ You do not understand, because he joined, since he chose such a frivolous, _ ” Hanzo’s demeanor changed, he swallowed thickly and reared back, lowering his bow, “ _ he went against the wishes of the clan elders. My brother is dead because of Overwatch _ .” 

McCree stared at Hanzo. He knew that Genji probably wouldn’t have wanted to seek Hanzo out, but how could Hanzo not know that he had survived that fight? He stared at Hanzo, and he just didn’t know what to say. McCree had spent all those years taking care of Genji in Blackwatch, years that Hanzo didn’t even know Genji had gotten to have. 

“ _ Don’t look at me like that _ ,” Hanzo said, “ _ it doesn’t matter anymore that you disappeared, what happened has happened. _ ” He started to make his way to the window, pausing to shoot an arrow into the coat McCree had on. McCree scrambled. 

“ _ Hanzo, wait _ ,” McCree said, But Hanzo just looked at him with cold, dead eyes. 

“ _ There is no point Jesse _ ,” Hanzo stepped on the window frame, “ _ you disappeared and I killed my brother. We are not the same people anymore, I’m sorry that you sought me out _ .” 

McCree watched Hanzo hop out of the window before he scrambled out of his coat, but by the time he made it to the window, Hanzo had already made himself invisible. His fist hit the window frame hard, his hand aching as he tried to drag himself back together. He could feel the hot tears streaming down his face, he didn’t know what he had wanted from Hanzo, but he certainly hadn’t wanted that. 

“ _ Hanzo did this to me. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you _ .” 

He hiccuped, a hand on his shoulder as the owner’s son had caught up with him finally. McCree shook his head, wiping his face down to hide the tears and thanking him before he got up. He disappeared into Hanamura that night, something in him numb and tired and hoping that he would run into Hanzo. 

McCree woke up the next day face down in the inn he’d rented a room from, lying just inside the door, but it felt like he’d been tossed there like a discarded doll. He wasn’t sure when he’d started drinking, but all the guilt had started to seep into his bones and sometimes whiskey was the only answer her had left. A shower didn’t help, his face hot and the tears coming all over again. He didn’t know how to handle the loss of something he didn’t even know he’d held onto. 

Gabe went easy, McCree watched him go even if he didn’t want to see it. But Hanzo spiraled away from him without McCree even getting the chance to see it happening. Even with Ana, at least he’d had a place to direct that aggression, but this. He knew he shouldn’t be pursuing Hanzo in the first place, he’d tried to kill Genji, but Hanzo was as much a part of the person he’d grown to be as Gabe. Maybe losing both of them turned out to be too much, so he’d held onto Hanzo because he had become more of a day dream at that point, someone McCree would get back to someday. McCree set his head on the wall of the shower, his eyes set on the water running over the tiles slowly as he tried to breathe. 

He found himself outside, no hat, wandering around the side of Shimada castle, looking up at the window he’d scaled a rope and climbed into so many times in that year he’d lived in Hanamura tailing Hanzo. McCree could still see Genji’s young face looking down at him, the face without the scars that Hanzo had left, and he could see Hanzo leaning out and smiling at him on the nights he’d called McCree over late, after everyone had fallen asleep. 

McCree started carefully scaling the side of the house, sliding the unlocked window up and dropping into Hanzo’s old bedroom. Nothing looked the same here. Immaculately clean, no clothes on the floor or books on the table or Nintendo system hidden in a TV cabinet. He made his way through the room quietly and carefully pulled up the mat that concealed Hanzo’s old stash. The only thing left, a pack of the cigarettes that McCree used to smoke. He could still feel the weight of Hanzo on his chest while they passed one back and forth in bed. 

McCree rubbed his shoulder, the phantom feeling of having another person with him made him uncomfortable. He walked out into the halls of the mansion, his heavy boots not even making a sound as he snuck through the old part of the house and into the newer part. This part felt the most strange to him, it looked like a home, but neither Genji, nor Hanzo ever spent very much time in it. The modern part of the house had been the domain of their father and his guards, and neither of them had ever liked it–they’d both told McCree how much they wished they’d been closer to their father. 

He found his way to the tunnels, taking the only way he knew through them, Hanzo had taught him to follow the same character repeatedly to get to an old, unused storage area. Hanzo kept a second stash of things there, an expired passport, a debit card with his name on it for a bank account he’d set up shortly after he’d met McCree. Hanzo wanted to run away with McCree, but when his dad died, those dreams ended quickly when the pressure of the clan fell on him. And then McCree disappeared. 

The storage room, to McCree’s surprise, was wrecked. Things thrown and tossed aside, leading to the spot that Hanzo had hidden his emergency kit. Hanzo must have done this, his hiding spot completely revealed. The hole in the floor empty save for a leather bound journal, McCree picked up the small book and turned it over in his hands. 

“ _ You, are still in love with my brother, aren’t you _ ?” 

McCree swallowed and shook off Genji’s voice. Genji had said that he didn’t blame McCree for it, but McCree knew he’d hurt Genji when he’d said yes. He wasn’t in love with the Hanzo that had hurt Genji though. McCree only knew the Hanzo he’d dated for seven years, who had never experienced the pressure of the clan elders directly. The Hanzo McCree had known wouldn’t have carried out the orders of the clan elders to kill his brother. His precious younger brother he’d spent so many years trying to protect. They weren’t the same person, and McCree couldn’t help thinking he was part of the cause when it came to the duel that left Genji a cyborg. 

Hanzo had taped a photo of him and McCree into the book. McCree remembered taking it, his arm holding Hanzo close as he surprised him, so Hanzo looked a bit like a startled cat. He pulled the old phone out of his pocket, the first thing he’d done when he left Overwatch a year ago was buy a new battery. When he clicked the home button, he smiled at the same photo on his lock screen. 

McCree flipped through the pages of the book, written mostly in English with various characters here or there. He felt a little like Hanzo might have meant for him to find this one day, or maybe, he wrote it in English so that the guards who were mostly homegrown, never finished high school, and found work with the Shimada family couldn’t read it. But the first page read: 

“Jesse might be dead. He never told me he was in Overwatch, but he had never denied it either. A company of Overwatch members, including Gabriel Reyes was reported missing in South America and I know that Jesse said that man he worked with was named Gabe. The one that raised him too.”

He swallowed, reading it over again and taking in the shakey writing and extra marks on the pages where his hand dragged off in weird ways or didn’t form the entire letter before moving on to the next. Hanzo’s handwriting had always been so clean, and as McCree closed the book, he took a deep breath. He looked back at the door of the storage area, the feeling of trespassing in a place he was once so welcome hitting him. 

McCree looked around a bit, he found a pen somewhere in everything and carefully removed the photo from the journal. He turned it over, thinking a moment before he wrote, “I took the notebook, I’m sorry Hanzo. I really am,” and signed his name before he returned it to the hole and in probably the most masochistic thing he’d ever done to himself, McCree went back to the inn with the journal to read it.  

  
  


_ “Hanzo! Somebody,” Genji’s voice rose from the central courtyard of the Shimada household, on his back and with a gun at his face, “Hanzo please.”  _

_ “Hanzo wait, don’t go running out there,” McCree followed close behind Hanzon, his eyes on the sword in Hanzo’s hand briefly, “the dude has a gun.”  _

_ “Is this the one? See if he has a tattoo.” Another man standing over Genji asked, and the other tried to grab Genji’s robe and pull it off. They watched as Genji tried to squirm away, but the guy pistol whipped him and Genji fell back into the ground.  _

_ Hanzo, before McCree could stop him, ran full speed at the man now trying to pull Geni’s left arm out of his robe. “Do not touch my brother,” Hanzo spat, and his sword sunk into the man’s chest before he could even try to pull his gun. The only issue, the three men standing to the side of him, all of their guns now drawn on Hanzo. McCree shot two, missing the third and as Hanzo started to realize his error, the crack of a sniper rifle rang out in the courtyard.  _

_ McCree’s heart stopped, watching and waiting for Hanzo to go down, but the third man slowly fell to his knees, the back of his head blown out as Hanzo pushed the man on his sword back and let him fall to the ground.  _

_ “Who the hell was that?” Hanzo asked, looking up to where the shot had come from. McCree followed his eyes, Hanzo still standing over Genji who just started to come to, so Hanzo refocused on him. The pause felt like an eternity, and then slowly he watched the flash of the light, morse code, A-M-A-R-I.  _

_ “Ana,” McCree said. The message changed, McCree kept watching, G-O. “Hanzo we have to go, get Genji.”  _

_ “What? What about my parents?” Hanzo sheathed his sword as Genji started to sit up, rubbing his head.  _

_ “Hanzo.” Genji didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around his brother’s neck once he’d leaned down. Genji sobbed, and Hanzo seemed to forget his concern. “Hanzo they were looking for you, talking about skinning you. Listen to Jesse.” _

_ Hanzo bit his lip and looked at McCree before he carefully helped Genji up. “Okay, stop crying though, we need to be quiet.” Genji nodded, and the three of them snuck themselves back into the house, McCree watching their backs as Shimada guards ran through the tunnels. Hanzo led, no hesitation as he followed the symbols on the wall. Occasionally, they’d press themselves against the wall and wait for people to go by before they moved. It wasn’t long before they made it to the oldest tunnels, all of them feeling dry and smelling like clay.  _

_ Genji shivered and pulled his robe in close as they approached a door that looked as old as the Shimada clan itself. Once they’d tucked themselves behind the heavy door, Hanzo lit a lamp and tucked Genji into a corner behind a pile of furniture that looked just as old as the door. Hanzo settled himself against the wall next to his brother, his arm going around Genji and his hand on his sword. McCree settled on his knee, Peacekeeper at the ready.  _

_ “Who are you?” Hanzo asked. When McCree looked back at him, he couldn’t blame the fear hidden in Hanzo’s eyes, but Genji didn’t look scared of McCree at all. He locked eyes with Genji for a moment as they pressed closer together. “Please.”  _

_ “Jesse McCree,” he said, “I had been tailing you on orders my boss’s order, I work for a security company that specializes in handling special forces.”  _

_ “And the person who saved Genji?” Hanzo asked.  _

_ “My coworker and surrogate mother,” McCree said. He felt like if he was anything less than honest, he would just betray Hanzo’s trust more than he already had. McCree wasn’t about to give him Ana’s name though, “we’re a bit of a family business.” _

_ Genji looked up at Hanzo, “he looks like he’s telling the truth Hanzo.”  _

_ “I know Genji.” Hanzo must have realized that questioning McCree made Genji nervous. He set his hand on Genji’s head and held him closer, “Jesse and his family will keep us safe.”  _

_ McCree looked back at Genji and nodded, smiling just a bit at him. “I’m sure right now, they’re dealing with anyone who might be threatening your parents. You two are my job.” Genji nodded and pressed close to Hanzo. They stayed put for a long time, and Genji seemed to fall asleep at some point, clinging to his brother. McCree wasn’t sure if letting him sleep was a good idea, but it was the middle of the night and Genji got up ridiculously early for school normally.  _

_ “So,” Hanzo mumbled, “you’re another of my father’s body guards? _ ”  _ He almost looked, sad about it.  _

_ “No.” McCree looked back at Hanzo, “I get the feeling your mother hired us.”  _

_ “Why would she have-”  _

_ “Some of your father’s guards were in on this,” McCree said, “the first three I took out I’d seen around your house.”  _

_ Hanzo’s eyes got wide, and he tightened his grip on Genji’s sleeping form, “she should have told me. I could have been more prepared. Genji would not have been out there alone. The last time that this happened, we had been in her room, I, should have known better than to split us up.”  _

_ “Hanzo.” McCree turned around and set a hand on his cheek, he leaned against the wall with the door now, sitting down in front of Hanzo and Genji, “None of this is your fault. I promise, everyone in your family will be completely safe.”  _

_ Hanzo swallowed thickly and for a moment his eyes welled up with tears, but he squeezed them shut and took a deep, even breath. “I had wanted to protect Genji from this. The last one, he was too young to have remembered.”  _

_ McCree softened, leaning in to press a kiss on Hanzo’s lips, just in case it really was their last. “I think you did pretty good with what you had Hanzo. You’re always there for Genji, and because of you, he’s safe now.”  _

_ “Thank you, Jesse.” Hanzo’s voice grew hollow like when he didn’t really believe McCree, but he still seemed comforted by McCree’s words, so he would take that for now. McCree kept his eyes on the door, a hand finding Hanzo’s as they stilled themselves and settled in for what would still be a long wait. _

_ Genji woke in about an hour, sitting up and moving away from Hanzo a bit. He found a sword in the pile of things in the room, sitting close enough to him that he could take it, and once he’d checked that it had only rusted a little over the years, he settled himself at the ready next to Hanzo.  _

_ Another two hours went by before there was a knock at the door. All three of them stiffened, but Hanzo whispered, “that is the family code. Only the four of us know it.”  _

_ McCree nodded, Peacekeeper at the ready as Hanzo leaned forward to knock the reply on the door. Carefully, McCree began to open the door then, and to his surprise he found himself face to face with Sojiro Shimada, his eyes intense and a bloodied sword in his hand.  _

_ “The man in charge of you told me to say ‘cowboy’ as the code.” McCree was taken aback by how similar Sojiro’s voice was to Hanzo’s, his eyes were dead as they looked at McCree’s hat, and he added, “I can see why now.” _

_ McCree looked at Hanzo and Genji, and after a beat, Genji got up and peered around the door at his father. “Dad!”  _

_ Genji flung himself into Sojiro’s arms and to McCree’s surprise, Sojiro smiled when he hugged Genji back. “You’re safe now, I’m sorry if someone hurt you Sparrow.”  _

_ Hanzo pulled the old door the rest of the way open and got in front of McCree, and it took a moment for McCree to realize he was hiding the fact that he and McCree were on friendly terms. He did look back at him and say, “mom’s bodyguard was able to help us get to safety.”  _

_ Sojiro nodded at Hanzo, and it seemed to be as much a surprise to Hanzo as it was to McCree, he reached out and wrapped an arm around Hanzo’s shoulders, pulling him into the hug while he kept his other arm around Genji.  _

_ “I am glad you are both safe. Thank you.” He looked to McCree when he said thanks and he let go of Hanzo, but not Genji. “Please come upstairs, the house has been cleared thanks to your coworkers.”  _

_ McCree nodded, and once he’d closed the door to the store room, he could feel the nerves of the situation start to wash off him, his fingertips tingling as the adrenaline started to drain out of his body. The exhaustion began to set in, and the worst, he knew this probably meant his time in Hanamura was over. So he just tried not to look to morose while Hanzo hardly looked at him at all as he rejoined Gabe and Ana. He watched Hanzo as Tomoe went running to him and Genji, flinging her arms around them. She hugged them both tightly, and over her shoulder, just briefly, McCree caught Hanzo’s eyes as he felt Ana tap him on the shoulder, when McCree looked back at her, she smiled and gave him one of those motherly looks he only got when she got all worried about him.  _

_ He melted and let her pull him into a half hug. McCree didn’t want to leave Hanzo, but it did feel nice to have his family around, even if Gabe immediately started to tease him about never taking off his hat. As he left the Shimada family estate through the front gates for only the second time since he’d been in Hanamura, he felt something in him break and despite how hard he tried to hide it behind his smile, under all his expressions, and deep inside his stomach where no one would ever find it, Ana seemed to catch him. _

_ She set an arm on his shoulders and drew him in, “you know, it wasn’t really fair of Gabe to not tell you that I had been tailing the younger Shimada brother.” She set a cell phone in his hand, “I’m sorry, Jesse. But you know, you have two of these now.”  _

  
  


McCree woke up on the floor of his dirty motel room, feeling the sand he’d dragged in on his boots scratching against his face while he tried to gather his wits. Nearly everything hurt, but the pounding in his head hurt the worst and he needed that to stop immediately.

He got up, tripped over Peacekeeper, and felt his face hit the floor hard. His brain felt like he’d broken the yolk inside an egg before cracking it open, but he got himself back up and stumbled into the bathroom. His feet felt heavy, and when he got to the sink he filled his hand with water, drinking it down and going for another three handfuls before he found the bottle of painkillers and downed four. He hiccuped and rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, looking in the mirror, the dark circles under his eyes looked worse than ever, the scruff on his face and his hair had grown long and unkempt. 

McCree took a few deep breaths, he had a train to catch. He set his hat on his head, wrapped himself in his serape and holstered peacekeeper. Outside the Motel room, the sun felt terrible, and his head continued to pound until he’d stationed himself in a good hiding spot where he could climb up on top of the train later. His tired eyes and scruffy face did a good amount to hide him from the general public, especially with his hat down, but he wasn’t about to risk trying to buy a ticket.

He looked out as he perched himself between cars, cigar in hand and serape pinned to his chest from the speed. He’d tied his hat to his head, and as he whizzed by the great sights of the United States at 640 kilometers per hour, he relaxed for the first time in a few years letting his eyes roam over the low landscape that grew into wide open deserts. And he was relaxed, cigar in hand, eyes shut for a moment, until of course, he heard the helicopters. He watched some thugs fast roping onto the train and groaned, swinging himself off the roof and into a window easily, he was never really great at relaxing anyway. 


	5. Chapter 5

_ “Hanzo!” McCree clung to the window, his feet struggling to keep their purchase on the wall, “Hanzo!”  _

_ Hanzo came running from the bathroom, he only had a t-shirt and boxers on. His eyes grew big, and he looked happy to see him, regardless of everything that had happened a few nights ago. “Jesse? How did you do that without the rope?” _

_ “Willpower, come here.” McCree carefully climbed into the window and wrapped Hanzo in a tight hug. “I’m leaving since the job is done, but I wanted to say goodbye.”  _

_ “I,” Hanzo paused, “I didn’t expect to see you again at all.”  _

_ “I know, I’m sorry, I never meant to lie to you,” he said and slipped the cell phone from his pocket, “I won’t always be available, but here, please call me if you need me. And e-mail me when you can. I promise, I’m not just leaving.”  _

_ Hanzo’s eyes went to the door to his bedroom, which hung open and then he pulled McCree into a heavy and loving kiss. “You had better come back Jesse. Sometime soon.” He took the phone, swallowing and looking back at McCree, nervous and for the first time since McCree had known him, shaken.  _

_ “I promise I will,” McCree said, “I love you, Hanzo.”  _

_ “I love you too,” Hanzo pressed himself into McCree’s chest and he frowned when Sojiro’s voice rose from somewhere beyond Hanzo’s bedroom door, calling for Hanzo. McCree bit his lip and pulled Hanzo in close for a moment, raising his phone to snap a picture of them together. He then set his hat on Hanzo’s head, kissed him and grabbed the rope for the window, tossing it out so he could scale down faster and he went fast, as fast as he could.  _

_ Hanzo looked down at him, he’d already taken the hat off, but he started to pull the rope up. McCree smiled, and he sent the picture he’d taken to Hanzo, heading off to run for his extraction point once he’d grabbed his stuff from the bush he’d hidden it in.  _

  
  


Genji found McCree shortly after he’d showed up at Watchpoint Gibraltar, only about two weeks after McCree had shown up, a smile on his face and he actually had the plate that normally covered the scarred, lower part of his jaw off, strapped to his belt, and for once the boy actually had some pants on, robes of what looked to be a monk’s. 

“McCree-san, it’s been too long,” Genji, said and for the first time since he’d become a cyborg, Genji opened his arms for McCree to hug him. McCree took the opportunity, he’d forgotten what Genji looked like when he smiled. “How have you been?” 

They started to walk along the back border of the base, an old hangout for the two of them, especially when Genji had first joined Blackwatch. McCree smoked a cigarette he’d rolled himself, his left hand repaired for the first time in years thanks to Winston, so he no longer crushed them every time he tried to roll one, “eh you know, running from cops, bounty hunting. The best I can to keep myself afloat.” 

“So they really did cut you loose with no protection,” Genji looked sad for a moment, “I’m sorry if I’d known-”

McCree shook his head, “it’s fine Gen, I left, that’s why it happened.”

“So you left too then?” He looked somber for a moment and then he looked back at McCree, “did Gabe tell you to go?” 

“Yeah,” McCree nodded, “I was tired of the fighting anyway.”

Genji frowned, sighing and letting go of whatever he was holding on to,  “you weren’t on the run, were you?” McCree glanced at Genji, his head naturally shaking, but Genji didn’t really seem to believe him. 

“I mean, I think I was lookin’ for Gabe more than I was runnin’ from anyone,” McCree said, “did a little vigilante work and some bounty huntin’,” he took a long drag on his cigarette and shrugged. 

“It’s sad to see what happened to us all after spending so much time trying to do our best to help.” His brow furrowed, and he crossed his arms, pausing at the farthest point behind the base, the catwalk overlooking a gorge that had turned blue with the quickly setting sun. “But I guess, Blackwatch might not have always been working towards the right ends.” 

“Yeah that might be the case,” McCree said, “but that ain’t our fault Genji. Gabe wasn’t even himself by the end of that whole thing.” 

“I know, it was part of why I left, and with the Shimada clan taken apart,” Genji paused, “I really didn’t have anywhere to channel all that rage. I never found my brother then, and I’m glad that I didn’t.” 

McCree made a noise, not looking at Genji as he blew all the smoke out of his lungs and tried to bring himself to talk. He didn’t know where to start about the time he’d spent trying to seek Hanzo out, and he still felt all the guilt from trying to find him in the first place. 

“I don’t think,” Genji’s voice wavered, “I don’t think what Hanzo did was really his decision anymore. He was wrong, but, I should have known back then too, what the clan was like, but.” Genji took a long pause, “I was not paying attention. I don’t know what they did to him. My brother used to be so kind.” 

McCree pushed his hat back as he looked at Genji, shaking his head again. “I’m glad you found some sort of peace Genji. That was always what I was hoping you’d find.” 

“I know, Jesse,” Genji rubbed the back of his neck, “and I’m sorry, if I ever made you feel bad for your feelings about my brother. You probably wouldn’t have recognized Hanzo by the time he was ordered to kill me, that wasn’t the person you had been holding onto.” 

“Genji-” 

Genji shook his head, “no, really McCree. You took care of me like I was your blood back then and I didn’t exactly appreciate it.” McCree softened, reaching out to wrap an arm around Genji’s shoulders to pull him in for another hug. 

“Stop being such a sap Genji. You’re gonna make me cry.” He squeezed Genji, and it earned a laugh, Genji pulling away and leaning on the railing to look out on the gorge. “You know, when I was lookin’ for Gabe, I came across some info about Hanzo.” 

Genji perked up, looking up at McCree, so McCree continued. “He was in Hanamura, wearing this,” McCree paused, “ridiculous Ninja get up, mask and all.”

“You found him?” Genji looked stunned, “what happened?” 

“Not much, there were some mobsters after him from the looks of things,” McCree frowned, thinking about the brand on Hanzo’s arm, but he didn’t think he should mention it. “They started shooting up the Rikimaru Ramen stand while I was there, hanzo was apparently living above it at the time.” 

Genji gave McCree a serious look and shifted slightly where he stood, “did you get to talk to him at all?”

“Briefly, but he reacted like he’d seen a ghost,” McCree said, “and honestly I should have anticipated him chewing my head off for disappearing, but Genji, he had no idea you were even alive. I couldn’t tell him. Once I’d realized, it felt like a betrayal to you to let him know, even if I felt bad about it. Just wasn’t my place.” 

“Well,” Genji paused, “he certainly knows we’re both alive now.” McCree glanced at Genji, urging him to continue. “I went to see him,” Genji said, “the anniversary of the day they pitted us against each other. He goes to the shrine and prays for me still, I had a feeling I could find him there on that day.” 

“I’m not surprised, he was always deep in his habits,” McCree said. Genji laughed softly and stood up. 

“He didn’t really love seeing me either,” Genji said, “and while I know asking him to join Overwatch is a lot, but I did it. I gave him the information he needed for recall.” 

McCree glanced at Genji, earnestly shocked as he thought about all those entries in Hanzo’s journal about how Genji had chosen Overwatch over him. He shouldn’t share that with Genji. “You invited him to join Overwatch?” 

“Yeah I,” Genji pursed his lips and hummed, “I’m not really sure what the hell I was thinking.” 

McCree laughed and shook his head, “well, I guess we’ll see if he shows up.” 

“We will,” Genji said and then he paused a moment, “I hope he does. If not just for my own relationship with him.” He glanced at McCree and then sheepishly added, “I always thought the two of you were good for each other. I used to think a lot about what would have happened if you hadn’t gone dark right after our father died.” 

McCree turned, facing the back of the base with his elbows on the railing behind him, “I hope you’re not expecting too much. He was real angry last time he saw me.” 

“I was really angry the last time you saw me too McCree.” Genji settled his head in his hand and then smiled up at him. 

“Let’s be honest with ourselves here Genji,” McCree said, “you never had your brother’s temper.” Genji’s face twisted and he very slowly pressed his lips together. 

“I will do my best to ensure he doesn’t kill you if he does show up.” Genji laughed, the joke small, but honestly, talking so normally about Hanzo felt strange and incredibly calming. Genji probably understand McCree’s relationship with Hanzo better than anyone because he had seen it. McCree had never had the chance to talk with someone who actually understood. “You know, the two of you, I don’t think I ever saw Hanzo as happy as when you were around and I know he didn’t work through your death before what happened the night of that duel.” 

McCree watched Genji, his mouth taut and his head racing for a moment. Genji seemed to notice, his eyes getting softer. “I think my brother, the one I grew up with, and the one that was so in love with you is still there,” Genji said, “he simply needs help getting back to where he was.” 

Genji shifted his weight and looked back at the base behind him. McCree couldn’t help it, his eyes a little wet so he sighed and let his shoulders drop. “I’m glad you grew into yourself ninja,” McCree said, “it’s nice to know that kid I knew in Japan wasn’t lost forever.” 

“You sound like Commander Reyes,” Genji laughed and started back towards the base, turning away from McCree, “I think we both grew into ourselves McCree. I just hope my brother does the same.” 

McCree laughed, shaking his head and lighting another cigarette. He watched the sun go down, and the quiet base, once so full of people and life, fell asleep around him. By the time the insomnia had passed and he found himself in his room, he wouldn’t get nearly enough sleep to get up early in the morning. Lena and Winston didn’t seem to mind him wandering in late, sitting down next to Genji who had busied himself with something on a tablet already. 

Lena slid a second tablet to McCree the moment he set his cup of coffee on the table. “I think the best route is to do some covert ops,” Lena said, she didn’t even miss a step in her brief, “but I don’t know enough about that, so I’m going to be leaning on Genji and McCree heavily for this one.” 

“Sounds good to me,” McCree said. Lena smiled at him, nodding before she continued on with the brief. This mission wasn’t complicated, they wanted to start cutting off Talon supply routes, which sounded exactly like something McCree wanted in on. They didn’t have a single doctor though, just Winston who needed to stay back at the base. 

McCree knew coming back to Overwatch wouldn’t go easy, their numbers were small, Lena, Winston, Genji, McCree, Mei, and a girl named Hana who drove a mech suit unlike anything McCree had ever seen. He’d come to like her though, she had stamina for days and underestimating her would end in a lot of pain, not unlike Ana. 

“Why do we need to be covert?” Hana asked, “let’s barrel in there and take out the whole facility.” 

“We need to know where things are coming and going to,” Winston said, “and there’s the potential for civilian casualty with total destruction.” 

“So y’all just want to find out when they’re comin’ and goin’, then start taking out shipments figurin’ the cutting off the supply line will be easier?” McCree gave Lena and Winston a look, and Genji seemed to nod along with what McCree had said. 

“That’s the hope,” Lena crossed her arms, setting her jaw, “and we don’t have a doctor right now. I’m hoping to recruit someone soon, but I haven’t heard back just yet.” 

McCree nodded, and glanced at Genji, “we can handle that. Genji and I will be in and out without anyone noticin’. If we get into shit, well, we’re used to that sort of thing.” 

“What if you need more power?” Hana asked. She looked hopeful, and McCree glanced at her briefly. 

“Might be a good idea to have the big guns behind us if we need it,” McCree said. Hana looked pleased with him, and honestly, he knew that the fire in her eyes held danger, but he also knew she’d keep him and Genji safe if they needed it. 

“I think we can spare Hana being at the base for this, just as back-up though,” Lena said, “we’re not trying to make a big splash, please remember that.” Hana jumped up with a salute to Lena. 

“No splash, got it!” And then she ran off, likely to do checks on her mech to ensure peak performance. McCree and Genji spent a few hours ironing out a plan, making sure that Hana had a good spot to stay hidden until they needed her, and a good way to mobilize themselves so that they could gather as much info as they possibly could in one sitting. He smoked a cigarette, and then Lena had them on a transport out. They spent a day at an old outpost, and the moment it grew dark, they headed to the Talon base on Hana’s mech. 

“This is a nice way to travel,” Genji said, squatting on the mech with a hand on one of the spoilers. McCree laughed, clinging hard to the other one with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, one last one before they made their way inside. 

“You know, it’s pretty nice when you get over the fear of falling off and into the jets on the back while the pilot yells, ‘blasting off’!” McCree grinned at the laugh he got out of Genji, and the chirp of Hana admonishing him over the comms system in his ear. 

When they’d stopped and hopped off, Hana reminded them of their time and McCree reminded her not to join unless there was a ruckus. Then they parted ways, Genji heading to the North end and McCree to the South, the two of them making their way inside however they needed to. Once inside, they each made quick work of the small number of guards leading into the two main offices of the building, quietly, of course. 

McCree sat down in the chair once he’d shoved the dude off it, watching him slump face-first on the floor as he jammed a flash drive into the computer. “Me too buddy,” he mumbled, which got a cackle of laughter from Hana and quiet snicker out of Genji. McCree smiled and added, “flash drive is doin’ its thing.”

“Mine is also working,” Genji mumbled. Hana let out a distraught noise. 

“You two are too good at this, I want to fight!” Hana groaned and McCree heard the sound of her jerking the little arms of her mech around over the comms. Genji, doing his best not to laugh, struggled to try to explain to Hana why this was a good thing, why getting in and out without being seen saved them from doing it all over again. McCree worked on focus with her a lot, mostly on her patience, of course, that didn’t mean Hana didn’t get a bit miffed when she didn’t see any action, and sometimes McCree couldn’t blame her for it. She just wasn’t suited to covert ops, but they all had to play whatever roles Overwatch required of them for now.

“I’m at fifty percent, where are you Genji?” McCree glanced at the door and then back down at the computer screen. Being out in the open office made him jittery, especially with the wide windows at the front of it. He didn’t understand how anyone could work in there, he felt like a fish in a bowl. 

“Forty six,” Genji said, “hey McCree, do these offices make you feel like you’re being watched?” 

McCree snorted softly and his eyes fell out onto the workspace just below the catwalk that led to the office. The warehouse certainly didn’t seem like anything special, but McCree knew first hand that didn’t mean anything. Old shipping crates could easily conceal the most advanced weapons technology, shit people couldn’t even imagine. “Yeah, remind me of my past,” McCree said, something catching the light in the distance that drew his eyes. 

“Hm, me too, the warehouses my father used to run….” Genji’s story lost McCree’s attention as he got up, the unfocused buzz of Genji’s voice stayed with him, his eyes following the distant light. He pursed his lips, slipping silently from the office and back down the catwalk. McCree had a bit of time, sneaking between the crates carefully until he reached the small, shiny piece of metal he’d seen. His hand touched it gently, slowly moving the tarp to reveal the sleek body of a big gun, something that could easily take out air forces. 

His eyes scanned the barrel, his phone slipping from his pocket so he could take a few photos quickly before returning it to his pocket. He walked along the length, wishing he knew how to steal something small that would turn it into a useless pile of metal. McCree bit his lip hard, heading back towards the office slowly, his hackles raised, and his hand on peacekeeper in case he needed her. 

“ _ I can’t believe you honestly turned back to Overwatch _ .” The voice brought McCree back to his situation, wandering around alone in enemy territory. “ _ What do you say Joel? Getting nostalgic? _ ” 

“Shit,” McCree said. He drew on her, his gun faced with a semi- automatic weapon. “I see you’ve fully submitted yourself to the terrorist in your soul. What happened to that high horse you used to ride?” 

“ _ You’re much less of a gentleman than you used to be _ ,” Sombra stepped out of shadows, and with the snap of her fingers the lights all flickered on. The bright lights in the ceiling lit up the crates and guns, just like the one McCree had found glittered in the lights. 

“Why are the lights on?” Genji’s anxious voice came over the comms. McCree didn’t respond, his eyes stuck to Sombra’s. 

“Who said I was here with Overwatch?” McCree tipped his head, a smirk crawling over his face, “how do you know I’m not here with that Shimada heir you sent me to find?” 

Sombra’s face screwed up for a moment, he’d obviously done enough to confuse her, and he heard Genji mutter for D.Va to move in over the comms. “ _ You were always such a white hat _ ,” Sombra said, “ _ no fun and too busy worshipping Gabriel Reyes to see the truth of the organization you were in _ .”

“Fuck off,” McCree said. In the very outskirts of his vision, he saw a flash of green on the catwalk. Genji knew better than to try and get in the middle of McCree and Sombra, so he wasn’t real worried he’d give away his presence. “At least I’m not working for an international terror organization.”

“ _ Oh, but you used to just fine, didn’t you? Head down and gun raised, _ ” Sombra flicked her head to the side and smiled, “ _ how did the meeting with the Shimada heir go anyway? Did you two have a loving reunion while you thought about his brother’s lifeless body in an Overwatch lab? _ ” 

McCree shrugged, a surge of anger in his stomach that he pressed down flat. “How did your descent from nuisance hacker to–”

“Oi,” Genji waved his arms above his head on the catwalk and shouted, “fuck you! Don’t talk to him that way!” 

“ _ What? _ ” Sombra turned her head, not all the way, but McCree smirked. He let it grow into a grin and he glanced at Genji briefly. 

“Oops Olivita, you have a gun on both sides,” McCree said. Sombra stared him down, just a moment, her eyes low and her face pulled into an angry grimace. He smiled, watching her move her hand, a small gesture that started her cloaking. As he watched her slowly fade out of sight, McCree knocked her gun from her hand with a swift kick, her cloak flickering as she yelled at him incoherently. 

Genji caught on, his sword out as the foot soldiers started to appear. McCree swept up Sombra’s gun, getting it in his belt as he bolted around a crate. He rolled, taking out the too closest men with guns and ducking into a strange alcove that ran underneath the catwalk Genji kept throwing soldiers off of. When they reached the end, McCree scaled a crate, hopping up just enough to catch Genji’s hands. 

“I have never loved you more in my life than I have in this moment,” McCree said, climbing over the railing and grinning when Genji laughed. And then they were being shot at, so they promptly left, through the office and then out the window. 

The foot soldiers had swarmed the warehouse, several of them heading in the direction of Genji and McCree the moment they saw the pair leaving the building. Luckily, McCree could already see Hana’s bright pink mech in the distance, the lights high and the guns raised. “Was that Sombra?” Genji asked, his sword callously cut down the nearest soldier, “I didn’t even know she was alive.”

“Oh she’s alive all right.” McCree fanned the hammer into a soldier, putting him down but not killing him. By the time they’d each taken out a few soliders, Hana had driven her mech straight through the fence and into a crowd of foot soldiers. “Nice to see you D.Va.” 

“Taxi at the ready!” She made quick work of the soldiers coming at them from the West, leaving Genji and McCree to take the otherside. Once they had a rhythm, they made their way slowly to the fence, clearing foot soldiers to get a long enough moment for both of them to climb up on the mech. 

“McCree!” Genji didn’t cover him in time, McCree felt the bullet catch his side, the searing pain shooting across his back. 

“Awe heck.” McCree nearly slid off the mech, Genji catching him and dragging him back up. In a moment, he had McCree basically in his lap, cligning with one hand to his belt, and the other hand to the mech. 

“Hana, go, now.” Genji clung to McCree. He couldn’t really feel anything but the pain. His vision blurred, his eyes fell shut, and the climbing heat from where the bullet hit him on his left side took over. 

 

_ McCree heard the commotion in the medical bay, dropping his cigarette and stomping it out the moment he saw Angela rushing through. He frowned, her face had gotten all twisted up and frustrated like it did when she had a tough case. She looked at him, briefly, and then a moment of realization swept over her and she grabbed his arm.  _

_ “McCree, you know Japanese, don’t you?” She looked up at him, hopeful and desperate. McCree shrugged, an old wound getting scratched as he tried not to lie just because he didn’t want to think about his time in Japan or start down his usual Hanzo related melancholy.  _

_ “A little,” he said. Angela didn’t explain, grabbing his arm and tugging him deeper into the medical bay until they reached the ICU.  _

_ “I have been trying to get this boy to talk, a newer agent from Japan,” she said, “he was badly injured, but none of us can find out how. We are concerned there is a security risk. Maybe even one in just having him here.” _

_ “How is he a risk if he’s in intensive care?” McCree followed her up a set of stairs, looking around at the room full of parts and engineers.  _

_ “Someone might be after him.” Angela dragged him right through the observation room, even as McCree tried to glance down at the patient. She gave McCree scrubs and forced him to change before telling him to wash up. Gloves and a mask later, and then he followed Angela into the room, his eyes scanning the equipment which beeped and churned, but the figure in the bed moved. He wasn’t out, and McCree suddenly felt a pang of empathy for this poor guy. He must be suffering  _

_ McCree looked at Angela, and she brought a chair up to the side of the bed for McCree to sit in. “Genji.”  _

_ His stomach dropped, he watched in slow motion as Genji’s wrecked face turned towards them. McCree stared, and Genji stared back at them.  _

_ “Genji this is my friend McCree,” Angela said. McCree couldn’t really hear it, the whirrs and clangs of machinery filled his ears and Genji’s labored breathing. Angela had him sit down, patting his shoulders, “he speaks Japanese. I thought he might be easier for you to talk to.”  _

_ Genji’s eyes scanned McCree’s face, travelling up until his eyes landed on Angela instead. He didn’t say anything, just stared.  _

_ Angela leaned down and pinched McCree’s arms. “You have never been squeamish in your life, what’s wrong? Say something.”  _

_ “He knows English just fine Angela,” McCree said, “Genji, we just need to know if someone is after you.” _

_ Genji had tears streaming down his face, McCree wasn’t sure if the pain caused it or the question he had asked. “You are alive,” Genji mumbled. Angela blinked and then looked at McCree for an explanation. When she didn’t get one, she looked to Genji again. _

_ “Of course you are alive Genji,” she said, “we saved you, remember?”  _

_ “No,” Genji said, “McCree.”  _

_ “What?” Angela looked to McCree again.  _

_ McCree swallowed, tears running down his face and hitting the scrubs. Angela’s eyes went wide, her hands twitching and hitting McCree’s shoulder. She leaned down, rubbing his arm and trying to say something to get McCree to stop crying. McCree just stared and cried.  _

_ “Your brother?” McCree asked. He didn’t want to, but he had to. McCree had to know.  _

_ Genji’s face fell apart, his breathing getting more labored as he hiccuped and bit down on his lower lip. He took a deep breath, Angela panicking until he did and McCree watched Genji swallow as he looked away from McCree. Tears started to stream down his face again, his eyes getting firey with anger mixing in with the pain, the scars on his face twisting for a moment as he forced himself to calm down.  _

_ “Hanzo did this to me.”  _

_ McCree gaped, “what?”  _

_ “My brother did this to me.” Genji’s voice grew in strength, screaming at McCree at the top of his lungs, Angela shrinking back, “the clan elders told Hanzo to kill me and he followed orders. My brother tried to murder me.”  _

_ “Genji, Genji,” Angela stepped between McCree and Genji, who had managed to sit himself up on a single arm. His voice wobbled and broke as she tried to get him to lie back down.  _

_ “My brother is no longer my brother,” Genji shrieked, “they broke him. He belongs with them now.” _

_ “McCree, go.” Angela waved him off and McCree nodded. He got up, knocking over his chair in the process but he made a swift exit, Genji screaming and sobbing as Angela clung to him to keep him in the bed. McCree left the med bay, found his way to the back of the base, and vomited his guts out.  _

 

“He is doing well.” A sweet voice, one McCree recognized, filled the room, “you know how he is, resilient. He’s never let anything take him down, not even losing his arm.” 

McCree cracked his eyes open, his head swimming from some kind of drug somebody had given him. “It’s all the whiskey,” McCree said, “keeps me alive.” 

“McCree!” Hana hit the side of the bed, her hands slapping down on the guard on the side of the bed to prevent him from rolling off, “how could you get shot you idiot! And you were the one that compromised the mission, idiot, why would you go down to inspect a gun they had in there?” 

“You’re right,” McCree said, swallowing hard. His side hurt like hell still, “but if Sombra was there, none of the intel we grabbed will be much good anyway.” Genji appeared behind Hana, his eyes bright and happy to see him. 

“He’s right,” Genji said. Hana pouted and crossed her arms until Genji added, “and so are you.” 

She huffed, “thank you.” 

“Hana you did real well, you showed a lot of restraint and you got us out safely,” McCree said, looking up at her. Hana’s pout started to wobble and she sucked it all in hard. She smacked his shoulder and frowned. 

“Don’t be sappy.” She turned to head out of the room, “I have blood to clean off my mech.” 

“She is very strong willed,” Angela said, wandering over to the other side of McCree’s bed, not really giving warning before she poked his side. 

“Shit, ow! What the hell was that for Ang?” He tried to wiggle away, but her hands followed, pressing on his abdomen in different places, checking something. “I see your bedside manner has somehow gotten worse.” 

“As Ana used to say, it’s just a scratch, you’ll be fine !” She grinned at McCree and stopped nudging him. “You’re healing up well though, luckily the bullet went right through you. Also, it’s good to see you McCree, it was a bit of surprise that my first patient was an old friend.” 

“Good to see you too Ang,” McCree said, “it’s nice knowin’ there’s actually a doctor on base now.” He shifted uncomfortably to sit up, and Genji offered him a hand to help. 

“You are lucky Angela got here when she did.” Genji offered him a glass of water, “we thought we were going to lose you, you’ve been out with a fever for about a day.” 

“Hana sitting here that whole time?” McCree asked. Hana took care of her mech before anything else most of the time, if she only went to clean the blood off her mech once McCree was conscious, she had to have been there the whole time waiting for him to wake up.

“Both of us,” Genji said, “then Angela showed up and gave you a shot and your fever dropped like a rock.” 

“Saps, both of ya’,” McCree smiled. “Thanks Gen, it’s good to see you too.” 

Genji sighed, “it is good to see you too. I couldn’t believe you were going to leave me alone. Alone with Lena and Winston! They know nothing about covert ops.” 

“Sure you weren’t more worried about gettin’ left alone with Hana?” McCree asked and Genji snorted.   
“Maybe a little, she can be rather childish,” he said as Angela went about doing some other tests. “But I can’t lose my older brother again. It might give me a complex.” 

“You saying you didn’t already have brother issues?” McCree’s tone grew dry as Genji leaned on the side of the bed. 

“You make a good point,” Genji said, “but at least I don’t have daddy issues.” 

Angela scoffed and McCree laughed, which hurt, but it still felt good, “you’re right. Guess I should really listen to that sayin’ about livin’ in a glass house and throwin’ stones.” 

“You two are being gross as always,” Angela said, “McCree, your fever is gone and your wound is healing well. You are free to go be gross somewhere else.” 

“Thanks Angela.” McCree shifted, “pain meds?” 

“I do not have any.” Angela’s shoulders dropped, “but we have an order coming into the base in two days. I can spare a shot of something that might be a bit too strong. You will likely just sleep more if I give it to you.” 

“It’s fine, I want to be awake,” McCree said, “I got whiskey in my room.” 

Angela sighed, “as much as I want to say you should not drink. I don’t think I should deny you some sort of relief. Just don’t be stupid and take Aspirin. No blood thinning, the last thing I need is for you to be back down here bleeding all over the place.” 

“I can handle that.” McCree grinned, shifting his legs off the bed, he wasn’t even in a gown, just in his jeans, the belt gone. Genji stepped back and offered McCree support again as he stood. It hurt, but nothing McCree couldn’t handle. 

“Let’s get you something to eat,” Genji said. McCree met his eyes, a smirk on his face. That was an old code they’d used to get out of the med bay so they could smoke without Angela lecturing them. When Genji shot back the same look, he nodded. 

“Yeah, food’ll be good.” McCree leaned on Genji a bit, but soon he’d adjusted to the pain and could move around on his own. He pulled his undershirt back on, gathering up all his other gear before they went to his room where he could swap his serape and kevlar vest, which clearly hadn’t done its job, for a bag of tobacco and papers. 

In a short while, they had settled themselves comfortably looking out at the gorge below them as McCree rolled two cigarettes. He lit Genji’s first, and then took a sweet puff of his own, the nicotine aided relaxation for him, numbing out the pain just a tiny bit as he focused on the influx of a drug he knew he had an addiction to, but couldn’t bring himself to even bother getting over. 

“How are you feeling?” Genji had his cigarette between to fingers, holding it carefully over the edge so the ash wouldn’t fall on him. They’d sat themselves on the very edge of the walkway, McCree leaning back and Genji forward. McCree didn’t want to press his wound against the railing. 

“All right,” he said, “nothin’ could really hurt as much as my arm.” 

“That is good,” Genji said. He had his eyes locked on the setting sun, leaning his head on one hand as he held himself against the railing, his legs dangling over the edge with McCree’s. “You know I keep thinking about my first couple of weeks here in Gibraltar, when I spent all that time in the medical bay and then even after screaming at you, you were the first person waiting for me to show me around once I could walk.” 

“Oh yeah?” McCree liked this sentimental side Genji seemed to have grown since he’d left Overwatch. 

“Yeah,” Genji said, “thank you for being there for me McCree. I don’t think I ever really told you how much it meant to me. But you’re the only one who stopped me from killing myself so many times.” 

McCree swallowed, “I know you probably don’t realize it Gen, but you did the same for me. When Reyes was getting worse, the only thing that kept me goin’ was the fact that I needed to be there for you.” 

“You are such a sap.” Genji chuckled, the setting sun glowing on the horizon as he took another drag from his cigarette. “You know, I really do hope that you are able to find someone that makes you as happy as my brother did. Even if it is not Hanzo, I know now that you’ll be part of family regardless and you deserve it.” 

“Thanks Genji,” McCree said. He didn’t want to admit he didn’t plan on dating anytime soon. He hadn’t since he’d lost Hanzo, it just, maybe wasn’t his place to have a soulmate at this point, even if McCree really believed he’d find one during his young and naive days and maybe he still believed it a little bit. But it wasn’t likely that Hanzo would come around after what McCree had done to him and as much as McCree knew nothing would ever be the same–McCree sort of believed Hanzo, the Hanzo he knew back then, might be his one and only. “Glad I didn’t lose you back then with your brother.”

Genji nodded, flicking his cigarette into the gorge below, the water taking it quickly as McCree and him relaxed there a while longer. McCree took a deep breath, following it with a second cigarette. Genji stayed, his eyes on the water, and then the sky once it went dark enough to see the stars, luckily, the soft glow of the base didn’t block out the neverending cosmos too much. 

“Stop right there!” Lena’s voice rang out loud, McCree caught the click of her guns, and when Genji and him turned around. A shadowy figure stood with his hands up in front of Lena, the curve of a bow stretching up from one shoulder, his clothes a little baggy, but his posture perfect as always. “Drop your weapon or I’ll shoot.”   
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Lena held firm, her guns pointed at the back of Hanzo’s head as he carefully reached for the clip on his front, unhooking his bag, and settling it on the ground next to him with his bow. Genji and McCree stared, Hanzo looking at them with a blank expression as Lena told him to get on his knees. 

Genji got to his feet before McCree, who watched as Hanzo put his hands behind his head before Lena even asked him to. “Lena, do not kill him, I invited him here.” 

“What?” Lena relaxed a tiny bit, her guns still pointed at Hanzo. “Who is this?” She side stepped around Hanzo, her eyes getting wide as she shook her head. Lena looked between Hanzo and Genji rapidly, her head jerking back and forth until she landed on Genji for further explanation, “An old friend?” 

Hanzo’s eyes held McCree’s, the two of them staring at one another while Genji did his best to prevent Lena from shooting his brother. McCree couldn’t believe Hanzo had shown up, he set his metal arm on the ground, pushing himself up with his metal hand as he grabbed the railing with his other hand and pulled himself up the rest of the way. It hurt, bad, the stitches pulling strangely as he moved and he couldn’t help but grimace. 

When he looked back at Hanzo, to McCree’s surprise, his expression had turned from blank to worried, his eyes scanning McCree over briefly until Hanzo noticed McCree looking at him. Then he dropped his eyes and took on the blank expression again. 

“If you’re sure,” Lena said. Genji must have convinced her Hanzo wasn’t a threat. “But Winston and I should interview him.” 

“Yes, that is fine,” Genji said. Lena slipped her guns back into the holsters, glancing down at Hanzo before she picked up his bag. Genji looked back at McCree, realizing he’d left him behind because of the injury, and then jogged back over to him, offering his arm to help him walk. 

McCree shook his head, watching as Lena asked Hanzo to get up, leading him away with Hanzo’s bag on her shoulder. Hanzo looked back at them briefly, and then with a glance to McCree, Genji automatically began to follow them down the hallway. 

Hanzo, handcuffed to a table in an interrogation room, with his eyes on his hands in the cuffs watched Lena pull things out of his bag and carefully set them in front of him. She started with the bow, which she set on a separate table, McCree watching from the one way mirror. Hanzo stared at it intermittently as Lena asked him questions about his things. 

“What is this bottle?” She showed him a little gourd. 

“Sake.” Hanzo didn’t look at her, just the bottle. Lena set it down after smelling it and then pulled out a leather book, flipping through pages. “Please do not read that, it is private.” 

She looked at Hanzo and then at the book. “I guess that’s fair.” She set that down, pulling some clothes out of Hanzo’s bag, which she did her best not to unfold, spreading them out on the table so they both could see them. Then, much to McCree and Genji’s surprise, Lena pulled out a black stetson, leather, and beat to shit from years of wear and tear. 

“It is a nice hat.” Hanzo stared at his hands, speaking as though he stumbled into a fond memory by mistake, and after a moment, he looked up at mirror again, and it felt like he had met McCree’s eyes. 

Lena looked him over briefly, and then glanced back at the mirror. “I didn’t expect you to have a thing for cowboys.” She set the hat down and started in on some of the smaller pockets of the bag. 

“Is that,” Genji mumbled. “Is that  _ your _ hat?” 

McCree watched Hanzo in the room, answering questions, repeating ‘sake’ every time Lena found a bottle in his bag. “It is.” 

“I have never known my brother to be sentimental.” Genji said slowly, watching as Lena sat down across from Hanzo, carefully returning things to his bag in the order that she had pulled them out. The quiver of arrows sat with the bow, she didn’t make a move to return those just yet. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” McCree said, “Always fine.” He watched as Hanzo stared, and eventually, Lena left Hanzo alone in the interrogation room, Winston just making his arrival to the holding area to speak with Lena. Hanzo sat patiently in the small interrogation room, his hands still cuffed, staring at the mirror. Slowly, his eyes slid away from the mirror, landing on the hat for a moment. Everyone else chatted about what they wanted to do, and McCree watched as Hanzo stretched his hand just enough to reach the brim of the hat and pull it closer to him. 

McCree wasn’t sure if Hanzo knew he was on the other side of the mirror. Maybe he assumed they didn’t have an audience while they decided his fate with Overwatch. But Hanzo pulled the hat a bit closer to him, looking at it as he ran his fingers over the brim and closed his eyes for a moment. McCree watched him take a deep breath, using the tactile feeling of the leather under his fingers to calm his anxiety like McCree had once taught him to do. 

“McCree,” Lena said, “What do you think?” 

He turned back to the three of them, all of which awaiting his response despite the fact that he and Genji maybe had equal emotional attachment to Hanzo. “I think we should give him a chance,” McCree said. “He’d be good to help cover our asses while we’re busy being idiots on the ground.” 

Genji smiled, and Lena, despite herself, sighed, giving them each a strange look. Winston didn’t seem fazed by her, he looked instead like he had found an opportunity. 

“All right,” Lena said. She shifted her hips, settling a hand on one as she scooped up a tablet. McCree actually had to commend Lena on how careful and seriously she’d taken letting new members join. It probably kept them all safer. “Then I think it will be good for the team. Winston and I will get a room set up for him and we can start going over basic procedures with him tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Lena,” Genji said. “I don’t think we will be disappointed.” 

“I hope not Genji,” Lena said, “I really hope not. McCree, can you take him to his room assignment? Winston and I need to speak with Genji.” 

Genji’s eyes bugged out for a second, “No, I will, we can talk after.” 

“I can do that,” McCree said. He held up his hand when Genji tried to protest. “It’s fine. I know what you’re thinking Genji, but it’s fine.” 

Lena glanced between them, slow and confused as she typed a few commands into her tablet without looking at it. Genji and McCree had never really explained to anyone the exact nature of their relationship, and no one but Angela knew that they met each other before Genji joined Overwatch. So McCree wasn’t really surprised Lena looked like she’d missed something. “All right,” Lena said, “Come with me.” 

McCree nodded, “Sure thing..” Genji watched him for a moment, nodding before he turned to Winston to begin their talk. Lena led McCree into the interrogation room where Hanzo sat perfectly still save for his fingers on the hat. His eyes hit McCree’s briefly and then dropped as Lena reached for the cuffs, using a digital key to release them. 

“We’re going to hold onto your weapon for now,” Lena said, “This is Agent McCree, he’s going to show you to your room.” 

“That is fine. Thank you.” Hanzo’s voice sounded rough, as if he’d cried recently. McCree had only heard him like this a few times before, and way back when, it still sounded lighter than it did now. Hanzo sounded like he had gravel in his throat, more than McCree had ever heard it, but he didn’t know if it had gotten that way with age or something else. 

“As I told you before, for now you’re going to remain on base until we know you a little better and McCree is on medical leave, so you might be spending a lot of time together.” Lena picked up Hanzo’s bow and hung it on a hook in the holding room.  Hanzo glanced at McCree briefly when Lena told him they’d be stuck together, but that was the only reaction McCree received. McCree just tried to keep his face straight for now. 

“Do you mind of I unstring it?” Hanzo asked. Lena paused, looking over the bow before she pulled it back down, offering it to Hanzo. He gently set one end of the bow on the ground, bracing it between his feet and pressing the top down so he could carefully pull the string free. Once he’d finished, he offered it to Lena holding it by the grip, “you can hang it on here.” 

Lena nodded and took the bow from Hanzo, hanging it as he had asked her to. “McCree, take him to room 626 please.” 

“Yes ma’am,” McCree said. Lena still didn’t look entirely comfortable with Hanzo, her eyes strangely wary for her usual light-hearted demeanor. She smiled back at McCree, though, and levelled out a little when he tipped his hat to her, taking the access card she had for Hanzo off the table. “Follow me.” 

Hanzo got up, bowing politely to Lena before he moved past her. McCree heard her cross her arms and sigh as he held the door for Hanzo. McCree gestured with his head, turning towards the living quarters as he did it. The movement made his side twitch as he started to lead Hanzo, forcing him to roll through a limp on his next step as the pain shot down his side again. 

“Are you hurt badly?” Hanzo stopped walking, giving McCree a chance to straighten himself out. 

“Not really, just pulled on the stitches.” McCree turned back to look at Hanzo and caught the tail end of a worried look. He hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he could look at Hanzo more carefully, McCree found he had that gold hair tie in his hair that he’d told McCree Genji had given him when they were kids. “C’mon, quarters are over here. It’s late, I can show you around the base in the morning.” 

Hanzo, much like whenever McCree talked about his work when they dated, didn’t look super convinced. At least McCree knew that Hanzo could still read him like a book. Of course, Hanzo didn’t say anything further when McCree waved for him to keep following him. Worried about him or not,  McCree could tell Hanzo wasn’t going to keep asking questions. 

“The common areas can be accessed using the key card for now. You’ll probably only need it a few days until Winston has Athena program all the door scanners for them to automatically recognize you.” McCree led Hanzo up to the door of room 626, looking it over briefly. The room belonged to one of the engineers back when McCree lived there as a kid and still hadn’t met Hanzo. He’d sometimes give McCree beer. It felt fitting that Hanzo would live there now. “This door should open for you and only you. The scanner is already programmed I’m guessin’.” 

“I can just walk up to it?” Hanzo looked at McCree skeptically, like he might be trying to play a prank on him. Which honestly, McCree had to laugh at, because Genji had done that exact thing when McCree had led him to his room. 

“Yes, it’ll open.” McCree handed Hanzo the key-card and Hanzo cautiously stepped towards the door which slid open, just as McCree said it would. Hanzo glanced at him, looking like he felt a little silly for doubting McCree and then he bowed in a way that felt far too formal and impersonal for Hanzo to use with McCree. 

“Thank you,” Hanzo said and when he straightened up, he looked like he might say something more, but he stopped himself. McCree caught Hanzo’s eyes as he examined McCree for a split second, his mouth pressing into a line. McCree could see the scared kid that showed up at his door late at night with a bruise on his eye for a moment, and then Hanzo hardened himself again. As he always did. 

“Take this catwalk to the end and take the stairs down one floor, I’m in five twenty-four if you need me,” McCree said. Hanzo’s mouth fell open, just a tiny bit and then he snapped it shut, nodding. 

“I will keep that in mind.” Hanzo glanced down at McCree’s side and then bowed his head again. “Feel better.” 

“Thanks,” McCree said, watching Hanzo hit the button to close the door. He stood perfectly still there for a moment, his chest starting to ache. It hadn’t ached like this in years, but McCree hadn’t seen the Hanzo he knew back then for so long. He’d aged, sure, this Hanzo, looked better than anything McCree could have put together in his daydreams, and more than anything, unlike the last time McCree had seen Hanzo, he looked like himself. 

McCree took a deep breath, turning on his heels and heading down to his room. He didn’t want to sleep, but he knew he needed to. If he didn’t, Angela would have his head and he’d be late to the briefing. 

When he got back into his room, he had a message from Lena on his tablet asking him to bring Hanzo to the briefing in the morning, and a frustrated message from Genji about Lena not trusting his judgement that Hanzo wouldn’t affiliate with Talon. Genji understood why should would think it, but he wanted her to trust him when he said that Hanzo wouldn’t. 

McCree didn’t bother trying to respond to Lena, he knew she was asleep already anyway, she was probably sleeping before Hanzo had shown up. He did respond to Genji though, talking him down in a few messages. After all, Talon had offered the Shimadas the opportunity to work with them before, McCree couldn’t entirely blame her from worrying that Hanzo had taken that offer. 

McCree decided he’d talk to her and Winston in the morning, Hanzo didn’t seem like he was here for anything other than Genji and while it maybe wasn’t McCree’s place to defend him, Lena might listen to him and see him as more level headed than Genji. Strictly because she wouldn’t know McCree knew Hanzo before all of this. Either way, suggesting he’d talk to Lena placated Genji enough that they could both get some sleep. 

The morning came harder than McCree expected, sleep seemed so much better than getting out of bed, his eyes bleary for a good five minutes while he fumbled around his room, pulling on jeans and a t-shirt before wrapping his serape around his shoulders. 

Gibraltar got cold at night, and tended to stay cold in the morning, especially in the winter, so his desert gremlin ass tended to suffer for a few months at a time. Nothing had changed since he was a kid. 

He’d completely wrapped himself up in his serape like he would to sleep in the desert at night by the time he got to Hanzo’s room, knocking on the door and finding a rather surprised looking Hanzo. He had obviously already figured out getting to the kitchen, because he had managed to make himself tea. McCree could smell it. 

“Morning briefing, Lena asked me to get ya’ on my way there,” McCree said. He didn’t feel like waiting for Hanzo to actually ask any questions about McCree’s visit. He was far too cold and standing on an open catwalk, shivering. 

“Why are you wearing a blanket?” Hanzo looked like he couldn’t help himself, turning back to pick up the jacket he’d been wearing the night before, slipping his arms into the sleeves. McCree shifted the serape. 

“It ain’t a blanket,” he said, “And because it’s cold and I don’t have a coat.” 

“You do not have a coat?” Hanzo seemed equally confused about that one, his brow furrowing as he followed McCree down the catwalk towards the innards of the base. 

“I came here from Southern California in the heat of July. It was a reasonable temperature here in the mornings then.” McCree hurried along the pathway, his arms starting to shake and his stitches aching in the cold. 

Hanzo didn’t respond, instead he hummed a bit and kept his mouth shut since more people started turning up, namely Hana, who fell in stride with McCree and started asking him the exact same questions. She paused to look back at Hanzo, her face in a hard pout and her eyes narrow at him. 

“So you’re the intruder from last night?” Hana asked. Hanzo looked her over slowly, and McCree just let them be, because honestly he cared far more about getting inside than stopping Hana from pestering Hanzo. 

“I came at Genji’s request. I would not call myself an intruder.” Hanzo followed them around a corner, Hana now walking swiftly between McCree and Hanzo. 

“Genji? Who are you?” Hana tilted her head, her hands in the pockets of her heavy military coat as she took Hanzo in again. McCree had become familiar with this, she would ask straight questions that people didn’t want to answer, but somehow still got them to talk. Honestly, he might have saved Hanzo from it if he wasn’t sort of curious as to how Hanzo would handle her particular brand of bull headed interrogation. 

“It does not matter,” Hanzo said. Hana didn’t seem to like that answer, looking back at McCree and then promptly huffing when McCree did not immediately offer an answer. 

“McCree, who is this? Why does he seem to know you? And he knows Genji?” Hana met McCree’s stride again, and caught McCree looking back at Hanzo. Hanzo didn’t seem to mind that Hana had switched her attention from him back to McCree, and even seemed to slow down to put more distance between himself and Hana. Hana of course, persisted with the questions, somehow convinced he had the answers. “I can tell you all know each other. Just tell me, is he another Blackwatch member?” 

“Hana please.” McCree grumbled, pulling his serape in closer. “It’s very early and my stitches are cold.” 

“That didn’t answer my question.” Hana huffed, but it did stop her, at least from pestering McCree, because she turned around to look at Hanzo again. “What is your name?”  

“Hanzo.” 

“Hanzo what?” Hana persisted. 

Hanzo audibly groaned. “Hanzo Shimada. Are you happy?” 

“Sorry, she’s stubborn as a mule.” McCree turned down another catwalk, swinging a door open and rushing himself into the warmth of the base’s interior. He shivered, shaking off the chill as Hana tried to deny her stubbornness for a split second before she registered what Hanzo had said. 

“Wait, Shimada? You’re Genji’s brother I’m guessing?” Hana’s eyes filled with that usual fire, “wait, so does this mean I have another person to destroy in video games?” 

McCree snorted, turning down one last hallway before he let go of his serape, shifting it on his shoulders so he had it on properly, pushing his hat back as he went. Hana turned on McCree though, frowning at him, probably for snorting in suggestion that Hanzo played video games. 

“I do not play video games,” Hanzo said. Hana’s heart must have stopped, because for the first time in her energizer bunny life she stood perfectly still as Hanzo and McCree carried on their way to the morning briefing. 

“How can you not play video games? You had to have played them at some point.” Hana, distraught with Hanzo, ran to catch up to them, “not even Sixteen Bit Hero? Or any other arcade game?” 

“I played them when I was a child,” Hanzo said, “I do not play them any more.” 

“Oh, that was the wrong thing to say.” McCree stopped, turning around to find a fuming Hana, and a rather confused Hanzo. Hana, looked like she might go get her mech and use it to plow Hanzo out of the base personally.

“Are you implying that games are just for children?” Hana crossed her arms, ready to go off on Hanzo if he said the wrong thing. She did this to Lena early on in staying at the base, and McCree kind of agreed with her. He knew that many South Korean military ground units were piloted by kids they’d enlisted from the professional gaming community, so he could see why she’d get defensive of the implication that only kids played games. 

Hanzo looked Hana over carefully and pressed his lips into a line. His eyes darted to McCree briefly, but he didn’t look like he needed help. He seemed almost like he didn’t want to say whatever he had to say in front of McCree. McCree just hoped it wasn’t a lie. “No,” Hanzo said, “only that I stopped playing them. I wasn’t allowed a lot of time to play them when I was young anyway.” 

Hana, who could anticipate just about any response you might throw her way suddenly looked off balance. She reared back oddly, “Oh. But Genji….” Her understanding came in a wave, her hands slipping out of the pockets of her jacket. “I see.”

She spun on her heels again, moving ahead of McCree and into the briefing room. McCree held the door for her, and then offered for Hanzo to follow. Hanzo gave McCree another careful look before he slipped inside where Genji ushered him to sit down near him. Hanzo’s shoulders visibly stiffened, but McCree didn’t see much more since Angela tossed him a coat the moment he walked in the door. 

“The shipment came early, Lena said this was for you,” Angela said. She smiled sweetly at McCree, and he got the distinct feeling she wanted something out of him, but he took the coat and thanked her, sitting down on the other side of Genji who promptly handed him a tablet with a whole bunch of intel on it. 

“What of this is even usable?” McCree squinted at the letters, his eyes still watery and his wound aching from the cold. He felt like he’d been hit by a truck honestly, and he’d actually been hit by a truck before. It wasn’t pleasant then, and it wasn’t pleasant now. 

“We don’t know.” Genji turned himself towards McCree just as Lena slid a tablet in front of Hanzo who thanked her quietly. “Honestly, all of it could be fake and all of it could be perfectly accurate. You never know with Sombra.” 

“Olivia’s not the type to make a trap obvious.” McCree scanned through orders upon orders of supplies and various pay offs from officials. “Funny, a lot of this is moving in and out of Japan.”

“Winston’s been at it all night, this is the code cracked version,” Lena ran her hand over the back of her neck and sighed. “We have a feeling that they might have stationed themselves somewhere in Japan since it’s got a lot of protections from the Omnic crisis as well as the world government, but we can’t figure out where.” 

“Why don’t we go and find out?” Hana asked. “Recon couldn’t hurt.” She had stationed herself near Angela, clearly interested in whatever she had on her tablet. Honestly, Hana suggesting recon first made McCree a little proud, she looked at him the moment she said it too, as if for approval. McCree had to hold himself back from giving her a thumbs up that she didn’t launch into her usual barrel in and ask questions later mentality. 

“We can’t risk another very public mistake.” Winston wandered into the room, and McCree honestly wished he could have gotten a picture of the look on Hanzo’s face when he did. McCree didn’t put it together the previous night, but Winston had already walked off with Genji by the time he’d led Hanzo out of the holding room. “Especially not one that could potentially put any of us at risk like Numbani.” 

“Numbani was the incident with Doomfist, right? When it was still just the four of you?” Angela asked. Winston and Lena quickly confirmed, McCree stayed at the base for that mission, someone had to. He knew that Lena’s chronal accelerator had been torn off, though, and that concerned him plenty. 

“That ain’t worth the risk,” McCree said, “Especially if we don’t know exactly where they are.” 

“This is Talon, correct?” Hanzo asked. Everyone turned to him, and Lena seemed cautious about saying yes, but she did. “They have taken over the Okinawa Watchpoint.” 

Everyone collectively gaped at Hanzo for a moment. Genji finally broke the silence, shaking his head slightly as he spoke, “Is that why you are here?” The tone behind it, one that maybe the others didn’t pick up, but Genji had a pang of hurt hidden in his voice and under the hurt McCree could hear worry. McCree also caught the flash of hurt on Hanzo’s face when Genji said it. He saw Genji’s eyes next, they both seemed to stiffen in the same way, a worry washing over them because they’d experienced betrayal. They knew what it could do to a group.

“It is why I was not here sooner,” Hanzo said and then in a way that only he could, he crossed his arms, got the most smug look on his face, only to add, “I would have taken them out, but I thought you would want to be aware.” 

Nobody else caught the hint of arrogance, well, Genji seemed to because Hanzo clearly never grew out of that pompous bullshit he used to use to cover up the potential that he couldn’t handle something. He would never ask for help, not directly at least. Lena didn’t seem to catch and of the pomp, her attention fell on the intel that Hanzo could offer them. 

“Do you know how many of them are stationed there?” Lena asked, “Do you have any intel on how often they move in and out?” 

“I am unsure of their numbers, they tended to stay on the interior.” Hanzo glanced at Genji again and shifted himself in his seat awkwardly. He’d never liked being the center of attention, and he certainly had the whole room looking at him now. “But there are at least fifteen and I have seen Ogundimu in the area.” 

“Write up everything you know for me, please. Winston and I will go through it.” She tapped gently on his tablet and then turned back to their previous topic. “Okay, we will start prepping for that. This week though I have a special job for Genji, Hana, and I.” 

“Wait really?” Hana slammed her hands on the table and then reigned herself in a bit, clearing her throat and refocusing. “What are we doing?” She glanced at McCree again, so he gave her an encouraging look. She’d made progress, he could only ask her to learn at her own pace.  

“We have to fly to Egypt.” Tracer said, giving Genji a quick glance, “I’m not really sure who we might run into there, but I think there might be the potential for new recruits.” 

Hana deflated like a balloon, immediately uninterested. “Just recruitment?” 

“No.” Lena shook her head. “While we’re there we’re going to be working a bit of an odd job. I’m hoping it leads us to what I think it will.”

“Why’re you bein’ so cagey about it?” McCree folded his arms, watching as Hanzo swept up his tablet to start working through that report Lena asked for. 

“Because I’m nervous you will all think it’s too dangerous.” She folded her arms and sighed, flicking her head a bit to get her hair out of her face. “There’s a sniper in Egypt, one too good to pass up.” 

Genji shifted uneasily. “How do you know it’s not Widowmaker?” 

“I don’t,” Lena scooped up her tablet and shared the screen. McCree took the moment she started to chatter about Widowmaker to glance at Hanzo, just a bit curious, because he seemed focused on the report for Lena. If he had mentioned this last night, Lena probably wouldn’t have given him so much shit, and McCree felt like Hanzo was smart enough to have known that. Maybe he just needed to make sure Genji didn’t try to kill him before he revealed anything about Talon, but that still left questions about where his loyalties may lie. 

McCree knew that Hanzo had changed a lot, but working with Talon as a double agent seemed like too much. Of course, it wasn’t entirely impossible either. Lena looked eager for the information, she had never dealt with something that sinister before. Seedy characters were one thing, someone coming to your team, pretending to be an ally, and then tearing it all out from under your feet is something harder to deal with. McCree really could never bring himself to get over it the few times it happened to him, so he couldn’t imagine Hana or Lena or Genji taking it well either. Then again, Genji probably already knows exactly how it feels. Stopping Point 

The meeting had wrapped, Lena sending everyone off except for Genji and Hana. McCree got the sense as he left briefing that Lena would have liked McCree to go to Egypt with them if he hadn’t gotten hurt. He just hoped that things went well and they either came back with Widowmaker’s head or a new ally.  McCree would kill to have Ana around again, someone who really knew how Overwatch worked and could shoot a fly between the eyes from a hundred yards away. He stopped the thought though, not wanting to think about how often and how much he missed her. 

Hanzo disappeared the moment the meeting ended, and McCree was dragged to the infirmary by Angela, so he couldn’t follow up on why Hanzo had withheld information from the team, but McCree was pretty sure he could find him later. 

“You look too serious,” Angela said, her hands now on his wound to carefully change the dressing, “This isn’t like you. Don’t get lost in your own head, McCree.” 

He sighed and shifted his hat on his head, looking down at Angela as she peeled some gauze from his skin. “Just worried about all of us, Ang,” McCree said, “Bringing in new people is dangerous, and I think all the old faces are starting to get to me.” 

Angela hummed softly and looked up at him quickly, her eyes keen. “From what I’ve gathered over the years, I think I can safely say that maybe your distrust of our new member comes from your personal feelings and may not be a reflection of his character.” 

“He showed up out of nowhere and had delicate Talon intel,” McCree said, “I feel I’ve got every right to be at least a bit skeptical.” 

“Well,” Angela sighed and rubbed her forehead with the back of her wrist, preventing her gloved hands from touching anything. “I’m not sure you’ll want my opinion, but I get the feeling he is here to repair his relationship with Genji and maybe do some good.”

“You always were optimistic.” McCree flinched when Angela gently wedged her finger against one of his stitches, moving it just enough to cause a whole lot of searing pain to run from his ribs to his thigh. “God, come on Doc, what happened to do no harm?” 

“I am only here to patch you up, if you have a problem with my bedside manner you can take it up with Lena and Winston.” Angela flashed a grin at McCree and went back to dressing his wound, gently holding a piece of gauze down with her palm as she readied a piece of medical tape. “Just like in the good old days when everyone used to report Moira every other hour.” 

McCree laughed and felt his stitches pull again. “You’re going to make me tear my stitches out.” 

“If you tear your stitches out, you will be sewing yourself back up on your own.” Angela finished the dressing, her experience showing when she made quick work of dressings that used to take her a good while when they were younger. “All patched up.” 

“Thanks,” McCree said, dropping his shirt and hopping off the table with a bit too much bounce. He cringed, and Angela gave him a look he didn’t like. 

“McCree.” 

“Yes?”

“I am banning you from the range.” Angela pulled out her tablet and quickly started to type, McCree putting his hands up defensively. 

“Hey now, that’s not necessary.” He frowned when she didn’t react to him at all, continuing to lock him out of the shooting range. “Ang, please, I’m going to get so bored.” 

“Play video games with Hana,” Angela said and then shooed McCree out of the medical bay despite McCree trying to tell her Hana was leaving, so was Genji, and knowing the way things were going lately, Winston and Lena would both be going with them. It didn’t help, he found himself on the other side of the medical bay doors alone and with a dull ache in his side that probably would get worse if he spent a bunch of time on his feet shooting a gun at a target. 

He sighed, tugging a cigarette from his pocket and wandering back towards the living quarters until he happened upon a ruckus coming from near the central command building. McCree couldn’t quite make out the voices until he got closer, taking a drag on his cigarette and trying to tell himself he shouldn’t meddle in whatever he could hear Genji and Hanzo arguing about. 

“ _ I should not have come here, I would not have if I knew you were just going to act like a child. _ ” That sounded exactly like something Hanzo would say, at least to McCree it did, especially to Genji, but McCree didn’t expect the addition of, “ _ I am not here to give Overwatch over to Talon. You know our father would have never have worked with them. I would never either _ .”

“ _ What do you expect me to think Hanzo? I would have trusted you just fine if you had answered the question and not gotten defensive _ ,” Genji spat. McCree paused near a corner, wondering if he should just walk past them or if he should wait and not alert them to his presence. It did make him feel better that Genji had obviously had the same thought that McCree had. Guess McCree knew that Genji would understand without having to ask. McCree didn’t hear what Hanzo said next, but he did hear Genji groan. “ _ I am not acting like a child. Any new agent should be vetted. I bet McCree had the same thought that I did _ .” 

McCree could handle getting thrown under the bus for Genji’s sake, but he felt his whole body shake when Hanzo barked back at Genji. “ _ You do not understand. I cannot believe you would disgrace me by thinking I might be working with that filthy organization. _ ” Now he felt sort of guilty about it.

“ _ Is this all you were here for? _ ” Genji sounded like he was trying to collect himself, speaking through gritted teeth and trying to reason with Hanzo. McCree knew personally that probably wouldn’t work. 

“ _ No _ .” Hanzo’s footsteps sounded very close, very suddenly and as McCree tried to find a place to make it look like he hadn’t heard that whole thing just now, he could hear Genji calling after Hanzo about how he wants to keep talking about this. McCree tucked himself behind the next corner in the nick of time, making it look like he’d been two halls over and gave him some plausible deniability on not hearing the yelling, or at least not making it out. 

It did mean, however, that Hanzo in his rage ran face first into McCree’s chest, smacking the stitches and sending so much pain up McCree’s side that he doubled over. Hanzo swore under his breath, about to just storm past McCree, but he seemed to register what he’d just done. 

“ _ McCree? Are you okay? Did I hit your wound?” _ Hanzo went from full rage to worry in a split second, his whole expression softening for just a moment before he smoothed it over with that more solid, less caring one. He seemed to go for stony in hopes of concealing his actual feelings. So in other words, the same old Hanzo. 

Of course, McCree could only really focus on the pain as he struggled to hang onto the wall so he wouldn’t fall over. By the time he managed to take a deep breath and look back up at Hanzo, he could see the now concealed worry. It seemed to grow more intense the longer it took McCree to respond. 

“‘M fine.” McCree choked regardless of how hard he tried not to, his cigarette lost to the impact and his hat in Hanzo’s hands now. “Really, fine. Think I might have swallowed the cigarette though.” 

Hanzo’s shoulders relaxed, his lips pulling together for a moment. “Good, I am sorry. I should have been watching where I was going.” 

“I was on the left side of the hall,” McCree said, and straightened himself up. “You okay? Ya’ look rattled.” 

“I,” Hanzo looked momentarily off guard and it took him longer than usual to straighten himself out. “Genji accused me of working with Talon.” 

McCree just hummed, and stared at Hanzo. It only took Hanzo a moment to realize why McCree wasn’t say anything, and when he did, he scoffed, turning away from McCree as he chucked his hat at him. 

“I hate it when he’s right.” Hanzo started down the hallway, his hand slowly curling into a fist and then releasing as he walked. 

McCree deflated a bit, sighing as he slipped another cigarette from his pocket and lit it. “We both thought of it because it is a little weird. You show up out of the blue with intel on enemy number one, everyone’s going to think you’re dirty.” 

Hanzo looked deadly when he turned back. “I am aware.” 

“Then why are you so mad?” McCree kept himself steely, trying to maintain the plausible deniability. 

“It does not matter now.” Hanzo’s voice changed, all the anger seeming to ebb away as he walked, so McCree just hummed and followed him, taking a long drag on his cigarette. “He implied I was only here for Talon,” Hanzo said,  “That was probably before you walked up and started to eavesdrop.”

McCree pursed his lips and nodded, a sigh rolling out of him after a moment. “All right, I can admit that I happened upon the two of ya’ fightin’, but if I’m bein’ honest, I was thinkin’ more about the pain in my side and if I could walk past the two of you since it’s the shorter way back to my room.”

Hanzo glanced back at him, unconvinced. “I see you still lie through your teeth when it is convenient.” 

“Alright, alright,” McCree frowned. “I was listenin’ to the two of you fight, but not on purpose.” 

“It is nice when you sound like yourself and not that con man voice of yours,” Hanzo said. McCree might have gotten mad about it if Hanzo didn’t sound fairly genuine about the way he said it. 

“What do you mean?” McCree took another drag on his cigarette watched Hanzo’s shoulders tense briefly. His head tilted to the side slightly, and McCree could imagine the way Hanzo rolled his eyes, of course, Hanzo looked a lot younger in McCree’s head. 

“You have sounded fake since I got here,” Hanzo said. His voice was low, almost a little bit sad. “That just now sounded like the real you.” 

McCree opened his mouth and then closed it softly. “Sorry,” he said, “I didn’t even realize I was doin’ it.” 

“It is fine,” Hanzo said, “I am sure you didn’t expect to see me.” 

“Genji told me you might be coming,” McCree said, “I’ll be honest, I wasn’t really holding out hope. Especially not after you slammed me into the floor and nearly broke my back the last time I saw you.”

Hanzo paused, looking back at McCree. “I stand by that decision,” Hanzo said, his eyes flat and his tone so dry, McCree almost believed him. 

“You’re fuckin’ with me, aren’t you?” He tried not to laugh, coughing a bit and doing his best not to aggravate the wound. “Don’t do that. Do you know how much laughing hurts?” 

“Not nearly as much as an arrow, I’m sure.” Hanzo glanced at McCree. “But I could imagine.” 

McCree just shot him a dirty look for being contrary and pressed a hand gently over his wound as he walked, the pain starting to subside enough that he could walk normally again. Hanzo laughed quietly, walking just ahead of McCree.

“Did you only come here because of Talon?” McCree figured he might as well ask.The more reason he had to believe whatever it that Hanzo’s intentions here were good, the more his nerves would ease. 

Hanzo spun on him again and for a flash of a moment, McCree could see that pissed off kitten look he used to get when they first met. His eyes sharp, and his mouth pulled up like he might bare fangs that hadn’t grown in yet, “I am here because my stupid brother asked me to come here. I wish all of you would stop treating me as though–”

He cut himself off, looking up at the sound of a hovercraft taking off. McCree looked up, watching it go with a bored expression on his face, his hands slipping into his pockets. Likely Hana, Genji, Winston, and Tracer had left for Egypt. He had the cigarette caught between his lips, breathing it in without really taking any air in until his head rushed slightly. It was momentary, and when Hanzo got ahold of himself, he looked back at McCree. 

“As though my intentions here are not loyal to my clan.” Hanzo took a deep breath and turned back towards wherever, probably his room or something. 

“Loyal to your clan?” McCree stared at him, watching Hanzo’s back. His shoulders sunk slightly, and his hands fell slack.

“Of course, Genji is the only part of my clan that I have left.” Hanzo paused and with a small movement, he touched a bracelet he had on his right arm. “I don’t think my mother would even see me right now.” 

McCree chewed on his cheek, bringing up his mother made for a good con and McCree knew it, but he suddenly wanted to believe it. “Your mother still around? Stepping on people and terrifyin’ them whenever she gets the chance?” 

Hanzo’s shoulders jerked slightly, his fingers rolling over the beads on the bracelet before he looked back at McCree. “I am sure she is,” Hanzo said, “I am not sure where though. I was hoping I could convince Genji to help me find her.” 

“Work on things with Genji.” McCree felt his voice waver, and as he snuffed out his cigarette on the ground once he’d started to walk again, making his way past Hanzo. “He’s more reasonable than I’ve ever seen him.”

“I know.” Hanzo looked up at the speck of the hovercraft out on the horizon. “I did not expect things here to seem so dire.” 

McCree chuckled softly. “Welcome to Overwatch. Promise I won’t go executing targets we’re supposed to bring in for questioning. It’ll prevent some of the drama.”

Hanzo looked at him confused, but McCree made his way to the catwalk and left it without an explanation. He’d told Lena when he first showed up he wouldn’t turn out like Gabe, telling Hanzo felt like a reminder to himself. Even if Hanzo didn’t understand. 

“How long have you been in Overwatch?” Hanzo just a step or two behind McCree now, his feet tapping gently on the floor so McCree could barely hear it anymore. 

“I was picked up at sixteen, maybe seventeen, don’t really remember clearly anymore,” McCree said, “been here ever since. This was always my home base.”

“Home base?” Hanzo looked out over the gorge beneath them and McCree looked back at him quickly. It was quiet, this base had never been quiet the entire time McCree lived there, yet somehow with Hanzo standing there, it seemed right that it was. 

“This was my home. The room I’m in was my bedroom right after Overwatch took me in.” He looked back towards his room on the end of the catwalk, on a corner so he’d have a view in his window. Gabe had done him right letting him chose a room, and Jack had made sure it worked out without anyone getting pissy a rookie got an ideal spot. “You could say this is my childhood home.”

“I see,” Hanzo said. McCree smiled at Hanzo quickly, and started back towards his room. “If you need me just ask Athena and she’ll let ya’ know where I am.” 

“Athena?” Hanzo asked. 

“The computer system. Just talk and she’ll respond. I’m going to go lie down. My side hurts.” McCree waved at Hanzo, his eyes rolling over the scenery. He really hadn’t expected Hanzo to say anything about him in particular, but he had a weird ache in his chest about it. Worse, he still didn’t totally trust that Hanzo came here for the reasons he claimed. Then again, Hanzo did still have McCree’s hat.

He laid himself out on the couch in his room, chain smoking a bit and sipping on whiskey because it took the edge off the pain. Eventually, McCree was asleep. When he woke, he didn’t really have much else he could do, so he moved some things around in his room, cleaned the bathroom, picked up his room and then drank until he fell asleep again. 

Three days went by quietly, McCree eating very little and drinking a lot but his wound felt better. The fourth day, Angela changed his bandages again, her drugs finally in so McCree wasn’t allowed to drink until he’d taken all the pills in the bottle. One daily for a week. 

When he sat down in the kitchen to down some water and coffee, he found himself taking a pill in front of Hanzo. He looked worn out and worried, his hands twitching like he wanted to reach for his bow. When he saw McCree looking, though, of course the expression fell away. 

“You okay?” McCree asked. 

“I am going stir crazy without something to do. I am not allowed in any of the training areas and I was told if I leave they will not let me return.” Hanzo looked frustrated, and McCree just sort of laughed. 

“Yeah, first couple weeks are the worst,” he said, “That was protocol when I joined too.”

Hanzo just grunted at him, walking over to turn on the electric kettle. McCree relaxed into the chair he’d settled himself into, reading through Hana’s mission report and making notes since she’d clearly rushed through parts of it. That or she’d written it half asleep in the medical bay waiting on McCree, that was pretty high on his list of theories as to why she’d done it so sloppy as well. 

“Agent McCree.” Athena’s voice made Hanzo jump. “Agent Oxton requests your help in the hovercraft hanger.”

“Acknowledged,” McCree said. Hanzo looked at him like he had talked to a Roomba and then turned promptly back to his tea as McCree got up. “Ya’ should be able to get into the hangar if you want to meet Genji down there.” 

“I think that I will let Genji come to me this time.” Hanzo watched McCree go past, his eyes gentle, “Last time trying to talk to him didn’t go very well.” 

McCree nodded. “That’s probably a good decision then.” Hanzo nodded back at him as McCree left the room, heading out to the catwalk which eventually led to the sprawling hangar that had about five dropships in it all together. It could hold hundreds, and while Hana had moved herself and her mech equipment into one section of it, they didn’t use much else right now. 

The door to the dropship had already opened, the ramp leading up to it settled on the ground as Lena tugged someone McCree didn’t quite recognize out of the craft, his white hair partially covered in dirt and his jacket scuffed and nicked from obviously sliding around on it. Lena held one of his arms, his face covered mostly by a visor. 

Genji appeared behind them, carrying two guns, one that looked more like a foot soldier’s and the other lightweight and dainty with a long barrel. Just behind him, Winston allowed a person wrapped up head to toe in a trench coat and wearing a mask with blue LED lights go ahead of him. 

“You needed me?” McCree asked. Lena nodded and frowned at the man she had by the arm. He wasn’t fighting, if anything he looked worn down and tired, his hands cuffed behind his back and his head bleeding a bit near his hairline. McCree could only see it because he had a mask covering everything but his forehead. 

“What was Jack Morrison’s number in the Soldier Enhancement Program?” Lena glanced at McCree. 

“Seventy six,” McCree said, looking back at the man Lena had her hands on. She carefully turned him, showing the large 76 stitched into his back. 

Lena tilted her head. “I think you might be the best person to interrogate him McCree.” 

McCree stared at him, the white hair, the lines in his brow, the shape of his shoulders. He wouldn’t have believed it if not for a sudden blip of power behind the visor, and then a voice that sounded like it had been put through a woodchipper came through, “I don’t know if the kid’s ever going to be that qualified.” 

“I don’t think this is your decision Jack,” McCree said, “I’m not the one who showed up in handcuffs this time.” 

Jack laughed, his shoulders jerking slightly. “I guess I deserve that.” 

“Take him to an interrogation room Lena, I’ll handle the rest.” He looked at the person that had the LEDs in place of a face, his eyes fixing on them for a moment. “This our sniper?”

Genji nodded. He looked, off, looking down at the sniper rifle he held in one of his hands. “They agreed to join. They have not taken off their mask or anything since we discovered them.” 

Hana’s mech made its way down the ramp now, Hana carefully walking it to where she normally parked it. McCree watched and then shrugged, looking back at Genji and then to the sniper, offering them his hand since they didn’t have cuffs on. 

“Welcome aboard,” McCree said, “if ya’ need anything just let me know.” 

The sniper didn’t take his hand, instead gently smacking a button on the side of whatever helmet they had on. It popped, and with an easy motion, Ana lifted the mask to reveal her face, one eye covered with a patch, but there was no doubt that in McCree’s mind who she was. Genji gaped now too, the two of them trying to comprehend what was going on as she smirked. 

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” She took McCree’s hand and shook it now, glancing between the two of them. “It is good to be home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I'm alive, hi.


	7. Chapter 7

_ McCree rolled over to face Hanzo, his arms above his head as he stretched out his legs. Hanzo, snoozing contently in the futon they shared, looked like a picturesque painting of a sleepy cat. His lips had the same soft curves and subtle peaks that made McCree want to kiss him over and over when they had first met. It had been so long now, McCree could hardly even imagine living his life without seeing Hanzo a few weeks at a time every six months or so. If he let himself go down that road, and think about his feelings, he really didn’t like the possibility that he might not ever see Hanzo again.  _

_ While his mother seemed to have adopted McCree and made him part of the family, his father didn’t love the idea of Hanzo falling for a foreigner, worse, someone that potentially had affiliations with a world Police force. Hanzo didn’t really like to listen to his father, lucky for McCree, but now as they took an afternoon nap at the tiny onsen they’d booked a little vacation in, Genji had recently found quite a bit of humor in harassing them when they wanted alone time so they decided to get away, McCree couldn’t help but worry about the future.  _

_ “Why do you look so serious?” Hanzo mumbled, his eyes barely open and his hair still cascading over his shoulders and neck. Usually, he corrected it first thing when he woke up.  _

_ “No reason.” McCree shifted to slide his fingers under some of the hairs on Hanzo’s neck, gently brushing them back so they would fall behind his head. “How’d my little cactus sleep?”  _

_ Hanzo frowned, his brow furrowed and his eyes opening enough to glare at McCree. “I do not like that one either. And you are lying, I can tell.”  _

_ He shifted, and in a quick movement, he sat up, sliding his hands under his hair so it would all fall behind his head now. McCree watched it fall and slide with a great deal of interest. Thinking about their future together, or talking to Hanzo about their future together scared McCree enough that zoning out at the sight of Hanzo’s hair had become a coping mechanism.  _

_ “Tell me the truth,” Hanzo said, “Don’t do that con man thing. You sound totally different when you do that.”  _

_ McCree sighed, propping himself up on his elbow as Hanzo loomed over him a bit. “I was just worryin’ about the future is all. Your Dad kind of hates me and, well, work….” _

_ Hanzo kept a straight, serious face. Like he always did when they started to talk about anything important. He’d hold all his feelings back until he either erupted like a volcano or melted into a puddle. McCree kept telling him it wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t really listen to McCree about things like that.  _

_ “Do you want to get married?” Hanzo’s face didn’t change, his eyes going hard like marbles and McCree nearly choked as he looked up at his boyfriend, intense as ever, who looked like he wanted an answer. Gaping at Hanzo like a goldfish as he continued. “After Genji and I are free of the clan, and we’re a little older, of course. Is it something that you would want?”  _

_ McCree, continuing with this goldfish method so he could stall a little longer, and after a moment it got Hanzo to soften up just a bit. “Are you okay?” Hanzo asked.  _

_ “Fine.” McCree spat. “I mean, Hanzo, please understand I have never thought about getting married. To anyone. In my life. It was never even a thought in my mind until you just said that.”  _

_ “Ah, I surprised you.” Hanzo actually looked a bit smug about that one, and McCree might have thought Hanzo had made a sick joke if he hadn’t been so painfully serious with his introduction.  _

_ “You sure as hell did,” McCree said, “That’s not the kind of thing you just drop on someone after wakin’ up from a nap.”  _

_ Hanzo broke and laughed, leaning down to kiss McCree. “I have been thinking about it for a while. I am sorry.”  _

_ “You anticipated this reaction didn’t ya?” McCree watched as Hanzo hummed and shrugged, trying to keep his plausible deniability. He didn’t need to push it anymore though, McCree set his hand on Hanzo’s shoulder as he sat up straighter to kiss Hanzo back. “I’d marry you, yeah. If it was an option presented to me.”  _

_ McCree kept his face serious while he got to revel a bit in Hanzo’s prompt blush and startled expression. Grinning, McCree caressed Hanzo’s cheek with his knuckle, “You expected me to tell you I’d get back to ya’, didn’t you?”  _

_ “No, I–” Hanzo stopped himself before he got going. Instead he looked away and tried to act aloof. McCree had gotten used to this, and as he smiled at Hanzo more, he watched Hanzo slowly turn his eyes back to McCree’s face. “Maybe. Are you serious?” Hanzo asked.  _

_ “Promise I am.” McCree gave Hanzo the most sincere smile he could. Lately, he’d spent all his time in Overwatch doing recon, schmoozing women he didn’t like and stealing intel. It wasn’t his idea of fun, and Hanzo had commented five minutes into this visit that McCree smiled like a con man now.  _

_ Hanzo didn’t seem to regard this one as fake, leaning in to kiss McCree again, his tongue on McCree’s lips and his mouth tasting like he’d had something salty for breakfast. McCree couldn’t help smiling at the touch of Hanzo’s lips, his fingers running through Hanzo’s hair as he pulled him closer again.  _

_ “Let’s get in the bath.” Hanzo mumbled against McCree’s mouth, his fingers on the collar of the Yukata McCree wore, curling as he tugged it open a bit. McCree, thankful he’d convinced Hanzo to splurge on a private open air bath, grinned more slyly now.  _

_ “Sounds good honeybun.” McCree laughed when Hanzo scoffed and got up, leaving him behind in the room as he stepped out onto the porch.  _

_ “You can stay there,” he huffed.  _

_ “Awe, babe.” McCree got to his feet and went running after him.  _

 

McCree woke with a bottle of whiskey in hand and a headache that he knew too well. He carefully sat himself up, the thick, watery feeling of his brain shifting in his head made him shiver. He wasn’t sure if he needed to throw up or take the worst walk of his life until he felt better. Maybe even a run, sweating this out sounded like a good, but terrible to accomplish idea. 

Of course, as his luck went, his door slid open and Ana swiftly walked over to him with a bottle of water. “I knew you would be doing this when you didn’t show up to the morning brief.” 

“What’d you expect?” McCree mumbled, trying to keep his voice low because her loud chiding hit like a brick. She probably talked loudly on purpose, and McCree would eventually get his revenge for this. 

Ana sighed and crossed her arms. “You know,” she said, “For someone so close to Gabe, you sure wound up acting a lot like Jack.” 

McCree didn’t justify that with a response, he just frowned and looked around until he found another bottle of whiskey and tried to take a swig. Ana snagged it from him before he could and gently smacked the side of his head which sent him spinning until he hit the bed again. 

“Ana please, I’m injured.” McCree felt like he fell face first into a puddle. He actually hit his pillow, but the squishy feeling reminded him of falling face first into the desert mud when drinking out of the only puddle you’ve seen in days. 

“It’s just a scratch, you’ll be fine,” Ana said, “You won’t be fine if you keep drinking away your thoughts. Now come on, up and into the shower. You have someone to interrogate.” 

McCree whimpered as he sat up. “I’m an adult Ana. You don’t have to tell me to shower.” 

“I am not standing aside while I watch you start idling your way into executive dysfunction, not showering or eating, and day drinking like I have so many others.” She pointed at the bathroom, and this time, when McCree looked up, he didn’t find the hardness in her face that he expected, or the way she’d set her jaw when she scolded someone. Instead, he found the sadness and worry in her eyes disconcerting, so he didn’t fight it. He got up, found clean clothes and got in the shower. 

He found her waiting on his bed. She’d made it, and picked up all the bottles, including the full ones, and obviously done something with them so that McCree could no longer have them. McCree, to make her feel better had even made it a point to clean up his beard, and when Ana looked up at him and smiled, he couldn’t help but return it with a sheepish smile in return. 

“You really grew into a good looking young man,” Ana said, “I hope you know that I missed you, Jesse.” 

“God, don’t get sappy now.” McCree took the bottle of water she offered him and started to drink. “You’ll make me say somethin’ stupid.” 

Ana chuckled. “Well speaking of something stupid, are you ready to deal with your other father? He won’t even tell me anything.” 

“I’ve been thinkin’ about that.” McCree’s head still hurt, the shower helped, but definitely didn’t clear the hangover entirely. “Ya’ think maybe we shouldn’t interrogate him? I mean, sure, he’s probably got a lot of secrets, even things he kept from you and Gabe. But I don’t know if I want to know ‘em.” 

Ana gave him a long, contemplative look. She seemed to mull it over, tilting her head back and forth and then looking at McCree hard. “I think you need to talk to him at least.” 

“I thought you’d say that.” McCree sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, I need to eat somethin’ first.” 

“Fair enough.” Ana got up and followed McCree towards the door. 

“Are you,” McCree paused, “Going to follow me until I go talk to him?” 

“Yes.” Ana nodded and crossed her arms. 

“Are ya’ gonna stop me from smoking on the way there too?” McCree touched the pack of cigarettes and lighter in his shirt pocket as he walked out onto the catwalk. 

She sighed. “If you must, go ahead.” 

McCree thanked her for the mercy and quickly lit up. A few drags made him feel better, and food helped immensely, his headache had become a ghost by the time he met Winston at the interrogation room. 

“Ah, McCree. I thought I was going to have to interrogate him.” He shuffled his feet and offered McCree the tablet he had in his hands. 

“No, I wouldn’t do that to ya’ Winston.” McCree started to read over what Winston had on the tablet. “But you’re gonna have to deal with my methods here.” 

Winston furrowed his brow and adjusted his glasses. “I will not question you. Good luck.” McCree nodded. The tablet had a list of questions that Winston wanted answers to, but McCree had a method in mind for this. 

Jack sat bobbing his leg with his hands in front of him. He wasn’t cuffed anymore, rather he just seemed to have grown complacent, at least more than McCree had ever seen him. The mask Jack had on when he’d first arrived was gone, so now McCree could see his eyes trained on the table in front of him. He didn’t look up when McCree sat down, his thumbs fiddling with something he’d hidden in his hands. If McCree had to guess, he would put money down on Jack still having Gabe’s cross, but he couldn’t be positive in that moment. 

“You okay?” McCree asked. 

“Fine.” Jack still didn’t look at him, he just stared down at the table. 

“You likin’ having your old room back?” McCree set the tablet down and watched Jack flinch. 

“Not stayin’ in it.” He looked off to the side now, just briefly and then back at the table. 

“Why not?” McCree crossed his arms, trying to follow Jack’s eyes, but Jack didn’t seem to look at anything in particular. 

“Didn’t want to.” Jack shifted his hands, the cross peeking out from between his fingers and McCree couldn’t help the sad way he sighed. 

“Jack, I don’t want to interrogate you,” McCree said, “You don’t have to tell me whatever it is you’re trying not to tell everybody else. But, I’ve been lookin’ for Gabe.” 

“I don’t want to talk with you about him.” Jack moved his fingers over the cross and set it down on the table. McCree bit his lip hard and tried to keep his cool. 

“I know. I’m sure you don’t want to talk to anyone about him, after everything.” McCree kept his eyes on Jack’s, but they didn’t move again, Jack just sat, bobbing his leg and looking at the table. “Come on Jack, it’s me. I’m just trying to find Gabe.” 

“That’s exactly why I don’t want to talk to you about him,” Jack said. McCree frowned, he knew that Jack had tight lips, but he hadn’t expected this exactly. This was, more than that. 

“It’s not like I’m lookin’ to hurt him,” McCree started. Jack shifted and scoffed, his head jerking to the side as he did it. “I know you’ve seen him Jack, it’s all over your face.” 

“McCree, I don’t want to talk about this.” Jack pawed at the cross now, gripping it tightly as his eyes swept in on odd pattern over the room. They landed back on his hands, roughly. “Anything else, please.” 

McCree sighed, and rolled his eyes, but his plan had sort of started working. “All right,” McCree said, “What happened after you were relieved from Overwatch? Immediately afterwards, where did you go?”

Jack didn’t seem to like that question either, shifting his feet and setting his jaw. “I went to Indiana. Had to gather some things.” 

“What kind of things?” McCree said. Jack looked angry, staring down at the table and then darting his eyes barely below McCree’s actual eye level. “You said anything else,” McCree added, and as he did, he carefully waved his hand off to the side, watching Jack’s eyes not move at all. McCree moved his hand to the other side, waving it more and Jack didn’t look at all, Jack didn’t notice. He snapped his fingers, and Jack’s head jerked towards the noise, but his eyes never quite hit McCree’s hand. “Jack, are you blind?” 

Jack grunted, shaking his head. “Not when my visor’s on.” His raised his voice and he looked up at the one-way mirror behind them like he wanted someone to hear. 

“Lena’s not out there,” McCree said. Jack just grumbled and started to bob his leg again. “How’d you lose your sight, Jack?” 

“It was going.” Jack said. 

“ _ Jack _ .” McCree ground his teeth and smacked his hand on the table. “What do you mean it was going?” 

“The Soldier Enhancement Program did shit to all of us that we didn’t see coming.” Jack got up and out of his seat, a grumble coming out of him as he used the edge of the table as a way to guide himself out of the room. “I’m sick of this.” 

“Wait, Jack.” McCree followed, grabbing onto Jack’s arm as he started to try and stomp his way down to one of the far catwalks that would eventually lead to a dorm if Jack didn’t trip and fall into the gorge. Jack jerked his arm, his hand finding a wall so he could head upstairs instead. McCree paused long enough to convince Winston not to follow and went after him again, Jack clinging to the wall as McCree tried to catch up. “Jack come on, why are you acting like this?” 

“Because Jesse.” Jack whirled around, but his eyes didn’t quite land on McCree, they looked off into the distance behind him. “Gabe told you to leave for a reason, and while I’m mad at you for goin’ I don’t want to go back on the promise I made him back then.” 

“You’re mad at me for leavin’?” McCree stopped trying to grab Jack, pulling back a bit. 

“Of course!” Jack took a step forward and flailed his hand until he found McCree’s shoulder, lurching him forward. “You, Gabe, and I were a family, Ana and Fareeha too, but you just ran off on the rest of us the moment Gabe told ya’ to. You really think I couldn’t have protected you back then? Now?” 

McCree swallowed, his face turned away slightly because Jack had him close. He tried to gently set his hands on Jack’s arms, but Jack pulled away again. “Jack, I couldn’t have known,” McCree said, “I couldn’t go to jail. I would have been no use there.” 

“You wouldn’t have gone to jail, Jesse, dammit. I don’t know why I even bother with you.” Jack started to stomp down the catwalk again, this time though, he stuttered, looking back at McCree vaguely, still not quite getting his eyes where they needed to be. “I cared about you just as much as Gabe did, I wasn’t going to let them hurt you.” 

“Yeah, but you never told me that.” McCree spat, he stomped up to Jack and grabbed his shoulder, jerking him around. “How in hell was I supposed to know any of that when you never said more than three words at a time to me?” 

“You were like our  _ son _ , Jesse.” Jack smacked one of McCree’s hands off of him and pushed him back roughly. “Sorry I don’t run my goddamn mouth all the goddamn time, but I thought after the years of protecting you and pulling you under our wing and keeping you close you’d fucking know that I would have kept doing that even after Gabe started to lose it.” 

McCree’s mouth clicked shut. “Is that what this is about? Gabe losin’ it?” 

Jack grunted, starting down the catwalk again. “You don’t need to know about that Jesse. Trust me, I’ll spare you what I had to deal with.” 

“That ain’t fair, Morrison,” McCree started to follow again. “I have as much a right to know as you do. Even if I’m not goin’ to like it.” 

“Would you stop it?” Jack spun around again and McCree stopped dead as Jack’s eyes trailed over in his direction. “Just, stop. He wanted you to remember him as he was, just, stop.” 

“Jack.” McCree watched him spin and start down the catwalk again. “Jack come on, you’re blind as a bat, you’re gonna get hurt.”

“Fuck off, Jesse.” Jack kept stomping until he reached the end of the catwalk, McCree almost managed to catch him, but he wasn’t close enough to stop Jack from barreling right into whatever unfortunate person walked around the corner at the same time Jack tried to speed around it. Jack hit the catwalk with a groan, rolling on one of his sides and trying to right himself quickly. Hanzo sat still on the ground in shock for a moment, and then he hopped up, helping Jack get back to his feet. 

“Sorry, I did not see you.” Hanzo held onto Jack’s arm as he got his hand back on the wall, he looked decidedly confused, but McCree knew Hanzo had to have heard most of what he and Jack said, well, yelled. Jack’s face twisted for a moment, shaking himself off.

“‘S fine.” Jack muttered, starting down the hallway again with his hand on the wall. Hanzo and McCree exchanged a look, and once Hanzo had seen how frustrated and frantic McCree looked, Hanzo didn’t seem to hesitate to turn around and follow Jack. 

“Let me take you back to your room.” Hanzo said it in a way that somehow came off level and concerned, but not demeaning and much to McCree’s surprise, Jack actually agreed. Maybe he thought McCree wouldn’t hear them, that could be possible. Either way, McCree was just thankful Jack wouldn’t fall to his death trying to fumble his way back to his room. 

McCree headed back down to Winston, a scowl on his face. “Have Lena reissue Jack’s visor to him.” 

“But, that could be incredibly–”

“Winston, he’s blind without it. You guys have been lettin’ him walk around here blind,” McCree said. Winston’s mouth dropped open and then he looked out at the drop off at the end of the catwalk. 

“I will let her know.” Winston shuffled his feet and then looked at McCree. “Are you okay?”

McCree nearly snapped at him, but he managed to stop himself. He took a deep breath, slipping his phone from his pocket to check the time. “I’ll be fine, Winston,” he said, “Thank you for askin’.” 

Winston didn’t look convinced, but he nodded and let McCree leave. McCree figured if anything, Winston understood worrying about, or missing a father figure. Even if McCree didn’t want to admit Jack was as much a dad to him as Gabe. 

McCree found himself back in his room, digging around even though he should have known better. Ana cleaned out literally every single bottle of whiskey he had stashed in there, including several in places he thought know one else knew about. He suddenly found himself wondering about the porn stash he’d kept as a teenager, maybe they’d known about his sexuality before he came out to any of them. Granted, they probably would have handled it as well as they did regardless of having a heads up.

He let go of that fast, finding a single bottle of beer in the mini fridge he had next to his couch. Ana must have deemed it okay since he couldn’t really drink himself into a stupor with just one beer. 

McCree took the single beer down to his usual spot overlooking the gorge. He settled himself down, cracked the bottle open and flung the cap down into the river. He always listened for a cling, wondering if the cap would hit the rocks before getting swept up by the river, but he never heard one. The gorge sort of swallowed all the noise of the base, especially with so few people in it. Now, the distant river and his metal hand on the railing made the only noise in the area. 

His wound felt a lot better, in fact, he could move pretty freely now, but he knew that Lena and Angela wouldn’t let him push it. He sipped on his beer, feeling the drink cool his throat until he’d finished it. Once he’d downed the whole thing, he rolled himself a cigarette and sat there smoking because at least Ana hadn’t taken all his tobacco when she stole all his whiskey. 

Eventually, he heard the clanging footsteps of someone coming down the stairs to the lower catwalk McCree had sat himself down on. He didn’t really bother to look, he had about three guesses, Genji, Ana, or Jack in roughly that order. Really, he thought it had to be Genji or Ana, since he knew Jack would be too worked up to even try to talk to him for a while. 

“Wait, let me guess who it is.” McCree held up his cigarette, he played this game often with Genji, and he’d done it to Ana before too. 

“What?” Hanzo sounded immensely confused, and as McCree turned around wide eyed to look up at him, he simply furrowed his brow. “I do not think I heard you right.” 

McCree blinked for a moment, and tried his best not to gape at Hanzo standing in the cool afternoon coming from just west of the gorge now. He looked, more together somehow, and while he still had traditional robes on, he’d shaved the sides of his hair into a neat undercut. It made him look younger, all the gray hair that had framed his face before gone and his hair tied up in a small ponytail at the back of his head. 

“Sorry,” McCree said. He had started to gather himself after the initial shock, had Hanzo looked like this earlier? He hadn’t really looked at Hanzo after he’d run into Jack. “I thought you were Genji, usually word gets around fast here when two people have a loud fight in the middle of the base. He usually comes to find me if I’m one of them.” 

Hanzo hummed softly, walking up and standing over McCree’s shoulder. “I am not sure anyone knows yet, but I thought I should inform you that that man is back in his room safely.”

“Ah, right, Jack.” McCree rubbed his temples, pushing his hat back so he didn’t accidentally scorch it with his cigarette. “I forgot you took him. Thank you.” 

“Of course.” Hanzo lingered for a moment, looking like he had something to say again as McCree looked up at him. “I have sake. If you’d like some.” 

Normally, McCree would have said yes in a heartbeat, but Ana cleaning him out made him pause. He sighed and shook his head. “Nah I’m okay, thank you though. I appreciate it.” 

Hanzo stood, baffled for a moment. He’d clearly planned this thinking with certainty that McCree would say yes. McCree had to admit though, he kind of wanted Hanzo around. Hanzo used to listen to him vent for hours about his family life, he might understand more about that argument than McCree had realized before, and Hanzo’s insights usually helped better than he expected.

“Want a cigarette?” McCree asked. Hanzo looked sort of relieved, nodding as he shifted to sit down with McCree. He came off tense, and he kept rather quiet, but he thanked McCree when he handed off the freshly rolled cigarette and the lighter. “Did ya’ manage to talk to Genji again?” 

“I am trying to wait for him to come to me this time.” Hanzo kept his voice so low, McCree had to take a moment after he’d spoken to put together what he’d actually said. He seemed to realize, adding a little bit louder, “I am just going to try to focus on getting Lena to trust me for now.” 

“So you want to stick around then?” McCree asked. Hanzo just nodded, taking another slow drag on his cigarette, flicking the ash off into the gorge. McCree waited a moment, letting the quiet settle around them again before he turned to look at Hanzo’s face again. “Jack say anything to you while you walked him back?” 

Hanzo’s lips twitched and he promptly set his cigarette between them again. A way to stall most likely, because when he pulled it away. “Nothing of note really. He asked me who I was and said I sounded like Genji,” Hanzo paused. “When I told him who I was, he reacted rather strangely.” 

“Oh yeah?” McCree couldn’t imagine. Jack wasn’t really the type to say anything forward. 

“Yes, he apologized to me.” Hanzo furrowed his brow and looked up at McCree now as he leaned forward to rest his arms on the support bar in front of him. “But he didn’t explain why.” 

McCree kept his mouth shut for a second, thinking all the options through. “I can think of a few things. Jack always was the type to wallow in guilt for strange reasons.” 

“I,” Hanzo looked contemplative for a moment. “I don’t think I want to know the reason. So I did not ask him to elaborate.” 

“‘S fair,” McCree said, “I wasn’t going to give ya’ any of my theories anyway. For all I know about Jack it could have been anything.” 

“It seemed like you two were rather close at some point.” Hanzo looked at the cigarette between his fingers. “Jack, he was the one who was with Gabe?” 

McCree’s jaw dropped for a moment, and he stammered. “He was, yeah. Can’t believe you remember that. I forget sometimes.” 

Hanzo stared blankly at his cigarette. “I have trouble forgetting things.” 

“Guess that’s fair,” McCree said. He thought for a moment, trying to rehash what he and Jack had said just an hour or so ago. McCree already couldn’t really remember it in detail. “He never paid me much mind. A lot of that earlier, it felt like it came out of nowhere for me.” 

“Didn’t he used to lecture you every time you did something dangerous at work?” Hanzo asked. McCree chuckled, finishing his cigarette and beginning to roll another one. 

“Yeah, he was worse than Gabe and Ana ever were.” McCree brushed tobacco off of his jeans and licked the paper quickly before he started to roll it. Hanzo hummed softly, and McCree rolled his eyes slightly, he started to catch on to what Hanzo might be gunning for. 

“That sounds like something I would have done to Genji when we were young.” Hanzo flicked the ashes off his cigarette and took another drag. “That was all.” 

“Okay, yeah, I might have just been ignorin’ it,” McCree said, “Never wanted to be as emotionally stunted as him. Didn’t want to think of myself as like him.” 

Hanzo chuckled softly, “I guess I could say the same.” He finished his cigarette, flicking the butt into the gorge. “I am going to go. I haven’t eaten today.” 

“Yeah, go ahead.” McCree shifted to lean on the support bar as Hanzo stood up.

Hanzo paused, looking back at McCree again and he opened his mouth for a second, but he snapped it back shut again. It seemed like most of the time, Hanzo didn’t want to talk to McCree. He just did it when he thought McCree needed it. McCree figured Hanzo fell out of love with him long enough ago that it didn’t matter to him anymore. McCree just never let go of anyone, an unlucky sap in environment where sentimentalism didn’t do someone any good. He didn’t need the pity, but it also didn’t feel too terrible to be able to pretend him and Hanzo might find some kind of normal someday.

Eventually, McCree got up because he got called to a brief and then before he knew it, he fell back into his old schedule. Running drills, training newer people, chatting with Hana or Genji or Ana about upcoming threats. Lena even had him drilling Hanzo, which felt weird, but then again, no one who could get himself in trouble in the field and need a sniper to get him out quite like McCree could. Everytime he and Hanzo landed together in a drill, he couldn’t help but think about how things would have been if Hanzo had managed to get away from his family, to follow McCree into the roaring din of Overwatch. Then Genji would turn up for a drill, half made of metal and Hanzo would shoot icy glares at McCree and he’d come back to reality. 

“Stay focused.” Hanzo snapped at him one day during a training session. Happy to have his bow back in hand, and antsy to get out on missions. Hanzo had spent most of his time up until that point helping Lena prep a reconnaissance mission at the old Overwatch base that Talon had taken over and the rest of the time he either fought with Genji, or made running drills hell for McCree.

“I got this.” McCree matched Hanzo’s tone. He’d started in on that a while ago, because Hanzo’s intensity and tone made communication easier usually, just like when they were kids. Besides training and running drills, Hanzo avoided McCree most of the time, and after two months of getting stuck in the middle of Genji and Hanzo’s arguments, and dealing with snide comments during training, he and Hanzo bickered almost as bad as Hana and Torbjorn who’d just made his way back to the base and didn’t like how Hana had rearranged his shop. 

Hanzo huffed, “you’re going to hit one of the trip lines. Right now, there I can see it.” 

“The only thing that’s gonna trip the alarm is you bitchin’ at me.” McCree stepped over the trip line easily, he didn’t need to see it, instinct had taken over a long time ago. Hanzo just huffed at him again, his face screwed up in some kind of annoyed tissy as they made their way through the simulated base. He kept quiet now though, stepping over the trip line and raising his bow to McCree’s six. Really, what they had learned, was that McCree and Hanzo on their own tended to be really good at capture and deliver, but only if they didn’t get into a fight half way through. Hanzo had the same problem with Genji, and while he didn’t have it with Lena, Mei, or Hana, they weren’t really the kind of units they’d send out on a small recon mission. 

McCree had his gun out and his back on the wall, carefully leaning around the corner, two sentry bots bobbled back and forth at odd angles. Winston didn’t quite have them working right yet. He got Hanzo’s attention, McCree’s gun made a lot more noise than Hanzo’s bow after all. Hanzo took them out with one arrow, just as they lined up for him to do so. He then carefully stepped over another trip line which McCree, admittedly, hadn’t seen. 

“We are further in this simulation than anyone has ever gotten.” Hanzo’s kept his voice low as he went by McCree, and for a moment, McCree thought Hanzo might have been proud of that fact, or of McCree, he wasn’t really sure. He’d made snide comments about the noise McCree’s boots made for two months despite the fact that they’d never once set off an alarm in a simulation. Either way, McCree’s aggravation with Hanzo ebbed a little bit. 

He followed Hanzo now, the two of them surrounding the door the sentry bots had been guarding and readied themselves. Hanzo went in first, the door going down easier than it probably would in real life, but they got into the small room with Genji sitting quietly in it. His arms were tied behind his back, but he had a magazine in his lap

“What are you doing here?” Hanzo looked decidedly confused, and Genji shrugged at him. 

“Someone has to be here for the two of you to capture,” Genji said. Hanzo didn’t seem convinced until McCree agreed with Genji, and honestly, Hanzo still didn’t look all that convinced they weren’t messing with him. 

“Let’s just finish the simulation.” Hanzo grumbled, grabbing Genji’s arm and tugged him out of the chair, leaving the magazine behind when it fell. Honestly, McCree and Genji weren’t messing with Hanzo, but that didn’t mean Ana and Lena weren’t. Normally, Lena usually played the part of the person needing capture in the simulations. 

“Whatever you want brother,” Genji said. Hanzo cringed, frowning the way he always did when Genji called him anything close to familial. Certainly, something had to give at some point between them, or at least McCree thought so. Hanzo had said he came to join Overwatch for Genji, but McCree never saw them together apart from official meetings, arguments, and now this. Though, McCree wasn’t really one to talk, Ana had commented on how he and Jack only stayed in the same room if they had an obligation. 

Now they walked in a way that Overwatch considered the ‘proper’ way to deal with potential combatant, and potential civilian all rolled into one. They each had a hand on his arm, and Hanzo led since McCree had a gun and had to bring up the rear in case Genji did something fishy, after all, you couldn’t shoot a bow with one hand. 

“So are you supposed to be an ally we’re savin’ or are you gonna attack us?” McCree watched as Hanzo immediately dropped his shoulders and groaned. Genji though, he chuckled delighted and flexed the arm McCree had a hold on. 

“You know I can’t tell you.” Genji chirped. “I promise I will try not to hurt you if I am a combatant.”

“Would the two of you take this seriously?” Hanzo grunted and tensed his shoulders when Genji responded with a huffing laugh. It sounded electronic in a way that made Hanzo visibly cringe. 

“Don’t spoil the fun, brother,” Genji said. “Once you have done as many of these as McCree and I have, you will understand exactly why we goof around during them.” 

“I will never understand the lax attitude the two of you have.” Hanzo glanced back at them, but he made eye contact with McCree and not Genji. “You are supposed to take training seriously. I shouldn’t really be surprised that you don’t, Genji.” 

Now Hanzo’s eyes seemed to meet Genji’s, but it didn’t last long. McCree rolled his eyes, he didn’t want to deal with this anymore than he wanted to listen to Hanzo bitch about his spurs. “Okay, both of ya’ stop. Bickering won’t get us anywhere and I’m sick of hearin’ it already.” 

Genji just huffed at him and let it go. Hanzo on the other hand, he felt the need to glare at McCree for a moment, at least long enough for McCree to catch what he thought looked like sadness in his eyes before they all moved on, quietly walking down the halls as Hanzo led them towards the end of the exercise. 

Of course, that meant three more groups of sentries to take out and countless more trip wires. Trip wires that Hanzo watched less carefully once they’d riled him up, and with a huffing, angry stomp, he crossed a trip wire and set off nearly the loudest alarm McCree had ever heard in a training session. 

“You’ve done it now brother,” Genji said. 

“Shut up, we can still finish the training–” Hanzo stopped talking when Genji reared back and shook McCree off him in an easy motion, he then proceeded to try to disarm McCree with his hands tied behind his back. McCree got a shot off that missed, and while Hanzo tried to grab Genji again, Genji seemed to decide he needed to flee. He ducked under his brother’s hand and found his foot on Hanzo’s chest, shoving Hanzo back gently before he tore off down the nearest hallway. 

“God dammit he was a combatant,” McCree took another shot at Genji, watching the paintball splatter on the wall. Hanzo groaned, chasing Genji now since he had more of a chance of catching him than McCree. McCree went the other way, trying to loop back around to see if he could head Genji off, only to run into sentry bots. McCree could handle those, taking just two shots since the noise the gun made no longer mattered. 

He caught sight of Genji’s heel heading around a corner down the hall from him, so McCree tore after him, hoping to maybe catch him with Hanzo on the other side. Instead, Hanzo ran into McCree so hard they both fell back on their asses, and he heard Genji laughing in the distance, reappearing with his hands still bound. Lena sniggered over the speakers as Genji made quick work of cutting the rope on his hands with a shuriken. 

“Sorry McCree, sorry Hanzo,” Lena said, “I saw that coming but couldn’t stop you in time.” Hanzo grunted and dented the wall with a punch as Genji offered McCree a hand. It earned the two of them a dirty look, and while McCree hoped that it only had to do with the simulator mission going to poorly, McCree couldn’t help but wonder what else might have Hanzo looking like that. What he didn’t know worried him as always. 

“Whatever Lena, you should stop makin’ these things such mazes,” McCree said. He followed Genji towards one of the many exits. During simulations, these doors stayed locked, but afterwards they could leave through any of them. Hanzo followed, a dark glower on his face. He hadn’t ever taken well to losing after all, something about him this time though just seemed completely off. He looked as though he’d watched an opportunity be handed to someone else, which hardly seemed right for just failing a simulation. Even after Genji left, the look stuck around. 

When they got up to the control room for the simulation center, McCree watched Lena sigh and Ana lean back in her seat. They gave McCree and Hanzo each a quick cluster of comments, things to work on, things they’d done well, and then Lena spat out the source of Hanzo’s stress. 

“I don’t know.” Lena crossed her arms and frowned, “you still don’t seem to work on a team well. Not even small teams. I’m just not sure if we can send you to Okinawa.”

“Then do not send me.” Hanzo’s voice clenched in a way that probably only McCree would recognize, but he could imagine Ana picked up on it. He sounded frustrated and tired, that part Ana could have caught, the part where he definitely sounded like he might start doing the angry crying thing he used to do when he had too much exposure to the Shimada clan elders probably only came through to McCree. Hanzo kept his head held high though, turning without another word to head out of the room. Lena looked like she could see that coming and like she might have prepared for that outcome.

“Lena, are you nuts?” McCree spat it out without thinking. Lena looked confused, her arms unfolding as McCree decided he obviously needed to die on this hill now. At the very least it had caught Hanzo’s attention, and he looked less upset than he had been. “Hanzo’s the only one who knows the layout, he knows the intel the best, and he’s one of three that actually speaks Japanese, ya’ can’t leave him out of this one.” 

Lena’s eyes darted to Hanzo, but Genji spoke from the doorway, McCree hadn’t realized he’d followed them. “I have to agree with McCree,” Genji crossed his arms. “Especially on the note about speaking Japanese. I don’t want to have to play translator the whole time we are there. I am sure McCree does not either. Three of us would be better.” 

Hanzo looked genuinely surprised, and while Lena still seemed to have reservations, she didn’t really seem to have an argument either. “Hana had experience, Hanzo is the only one who has not worked on this sort of team.” Lena finally confessed after some pressing, she looked genuine about it though, like her worry legitimately stemmed from Hanzo’s experience and not what he’d done to Genji in the past, “I just want to be sure.” 

“Lena.” Ana had stayed mostly quiet up until this point. “Maybe this is one of those times to listen to your team and not your gut.” 

Lena sighed, giving in. “All right. You’re all right. I know, I have things to work on to get ready for the mission, but I’m not taking any unnecessary risks.” 

“Okay, the three of you out.” Ana made a waved her hand to gesture for them to leave and then promptly got up and made sure that McCree, Hanzo, and Genji all shuffled out of the room as quickly as possible. Of course, that meant Hanzo disappeared just as promptly, and Genji made some comment about needing to see Angela before he also disappeared, which meant that McCree found himself alone. 

He headed back towards his room slowly, his head drifting back to the way Hanzo had looked at him, just for a moment when McCree decided to defend him. Suddenly, he felt like he needed a drink imagining Hanzo’s brown eyes and the way he used to look at McCree. Of course, getting a drink wasn’t easy since Ana made any bottle of hard liquor McCree had in his room disappear quickly. He’d started buying as much beer as he could since the beer seemed okay by Ana’s standards, or at the very least, it didn’t go missing like the whiskey did. Then again, this didn’t really feel like a situation where beer could cover his feelings, and he doubted Ana would give him any sort of leniency on the whiskey just because he wanted to drink and grieve a long lost love.

McCree still had his mind on beer when Hanzo headed him off on a catwalk. Quiet as a mouse, as usual, which meant McCree nearly jumped out of his skin when Hanzo seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

“Jesus Hanzo, could ya’ just make some noise for the sake of the rest of us?” McCree scowled, and Hanzo earnestly looked like he felt bad for a moment. 

“You are rather quiet as well,” Hanzo said.

“Yeah, when I’m tryin’ to be, you’re quiet regardless.” McCree walked past Hanzo, but Hanzo’s hand snapped to his wrist, which didn’t make McCree jump. It did make him stop though. Hanzo let go quickly, he looked like he couldn’t really believe himself. 

“Sorry.” Hanzo looked uncomfortable, and then he glanced up at McCree with a flash of a look that McCree recognized. “I just wanted to ask, why you did that. With Lena.” 

McCree watched Hanzo’s face, and really, he understood the confusion, because McCree really didn’t understand why he’d done it either. “Because I don’t want to keep doing useless training simulations with you,” McCree said, simple and honest. “And because I knew I was right.” 

It sufficiently baffled Hanzo, just enough for McCree to move on down the catwalk and leave him looking like McCree had lost his mind. Letting Hanzo think McCree lost his ability to think sounded better than trying to have a drawn out conversation about it though, so McCree decided he would play dumb. 

He took a deep breath as he looked out over the gorge, his eyes rolling over the scene until he turned into his room. His hat came off first, dropping it on the bed as he made his way to the fridge. It had gotten cold out, so he promptly wrapped himself in his serape nice and tight as he settled on the little couch with a beer in his hand. His room felt quiet, and as he closed his eyes for a minute, he managed to think through everything that had happened that day. He really just hoped that Hanzo didn’t turn out to be a double agent after that. If he did, McCree deserved to, and probably would die for his misjudgement.


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn’t quite as dangerous as the Okinawa mission, but McCree felt the nervous energy that came along with heading face first into a mission that felt off to him. Somehow, Lena cleared Jack to go out with them, so now McCree had both him and Hanzo to worry about, and while Jack was experienced, McCree just didn’t want to deal with him. Meanwhile, Hanzo showed no nerves, but lately, McCree annoyed Hanzo more easily. Hanzo’s biting comments and glares that could kill a man got distracting after a while though, and that had started to get on McCree’s nerves.

Genji remedied the situation a bit admittedly. He sat down next to McCree and saved him from having to ride next to Jack the whole way. Honestly, if McCree didn’t know any better, he’d have thought that Genji got a kick out of Lena and Ana forcing the four of them  on a recon mission together. Maybe Jack didn’t affect Genji the way that he affected McCree, though, that might explain some of it, but Hanzo had to bother him. 

Once they all settled into the drop ship, they strapped in and McCree tried to put all the noise out of his mind. He could feel Hanzo looking at him, he wasn’t glaring this time, so he probably just zoned out once the dropship started to move. After a while though, every time McCree checked to see if Hanzo had looked away, Hanzo had his face in his tablet, reading over the intel they’d been given about the mission. 

Talon had wormed their way down into Dorado, taking over and recruiting most of the Deadlock gang into helping them. Now, they couldn’t tell the difference between Talon and McCree’s old gang. As much as McCree didn’t want to admit it, he wasn’t exactly surprised that things turned out this way. Ashe and the Deadlock gang usually recruited kids who just wanted to find work and survive, he knew that likely hadn’t changed. Some flashy weapons and maybe the promise of good drugs would go a long way in that crowd, or even the promise of revenge for Ashe, she was probably still pissed after McCree had last seen her. Manipulating the leadership under Ashe wasn’t exactly difficult either, most of them found themselves in charge because they’d survived, they didn’t earn that spot because of some advanced skills or cunning or anything.

McCree had become hyper aware over the years that he only lived as long as he did because he left the gang. Going back now almost felt like a strange insult, rather, it felt like an insult that Ana and Lena thought he could handle the emotional weight of this at the moment. McCree thought this honestly might break him, seeing the faces of kids like him might just send him spiraling. 

“We’re going to need you to lead us.” Jack’s visor blinked as he spoke, picking his head up, “I know you’ve still got the layout memorized.” 

Hanzo picked his head up for the first time in a while, looking between Jack and McCree with a serious amount of confusion on his face. McCree sighed and tipped his hat back, “You’re right. But only if it hasn’t changed.”

“How easily could they change tunnels in solid rock?” Genji shifted to crack his neck and start to stretch, they had maybe an hour now, and McCree’s ass went numb a long time ago. Honestly, he hadn’t missed the drop ships. 

“There’s a high probability it’s the same layout.” Jack leaned back in his seat more, forcing himself into a position so that his knees stuck out into the small aisle, nearly bumping Genji’s. He did it when his back started to hurt from the seats. “If you feel confident you remember the Deadlock headquarters, you should lead. Don’t know what we’ll run into with Talon down there.” 

“Don’t think I could forget. I lived there a good while, if you have intel sayin’ that it likely hasn’t changed then I can lead.” McCree watched Hanzo’s face wash with understanding as McCree added, “But we’ll probably need to split up to complete both objectives. Hopefully that will help us avoid Ashe too.” 

“I know.” Jack said it quietly, somber and thoughtful. He’d clearly put on his big-boy pants for this mission and planned on playing nice with McCree. McCree knew he’d stick strictly to the mission, McCree knew better than to think Jack might suddenly open up to him. The old soldier rarely talked in the first place. “Either way, Genji’s got the payload, I think I can guard him if the two of you can get the intel from the computer. I’m wondering if Ashe or the Deadlock gang will even be here.”

“What are the combatants going to be like?” Hanzo’s question made Genji and Jack visibly cringe. McCree probably did too, his face screwing up for a moment as he swallowed a thick knot in his throat. 

“Young, try to maim not kill,” McCree said. Hanzo cringed this time and just nodded. Things stayed quiet for a few minutes then, and McCree watched Jack pull Gabe’s cross from one of the pockets on his jacket. He rolled it over in his hands a few times and then slipped it back into a safe spot. 

“Is there anything strange we should look out for?” Genji broke the silence, straightening himself in his seat and then adding. “I have heard rumors of a ghost defending the base, I am sure there is an explanation.” 

Jack tensed up, his head slowly moving to look up at Genji. “Ghosts don’t exist.” 

Genji stared back at him, a long, slow stare that made McCree think they could communicate telepathically. Maybe the visors let them do that, McCree wouldn’t know. Eventually, they broke it off and Genji didn’t ask anymore questions about it. The whole exchange made Hanzo look unsettled, and as McCree tried to hide under his hat again, pulling it down and closing his eyes, he could hear the sound of the other Deadlock boys screaming the day that Overwatch overran the Deadlock headquarters. Not everyone got lucky like McCree. 

“Reyes really didn’t do the best job of putting an end to this gang.” Jack crossed his arms, his visor fixed on McCree for the moment. When McCree shifted, he sighed and shrugged. 

“Hard to eliminate something people start doin’ out of necessity,” McCree said. Hanzo looked at him again, and then glanced at Genji quickly. “Maybe there’ll be some new recruits hidden in this crowd.”

Hanzo’s eyes snapped back to McCree, he still looked lost, just a bit, and his frown grew deep and concerned. Jack snorted though, and chuckled to himself, something McCree hadn’t heard in a long, long time. 

“I think we all know better than to pick up any more kids from unfortunate circumstances and indoctrinate them into Overwatch.” McCree heard Jack snort again, catching him shaking his head as McCree added. “Besides, if Hana’s any proof, they’re just coming to us now.”

Genji adjusted his faceplate and nodded at McCree, chuckling quietly. “We should only hope we have more like Hana coming to us.” Jack rolled his head to one side, picking up his gun, taking it apart to do a check on it that McCree had watched him do it hundreds of times over. Hanzo seemed to lose interest in the conversation at that point, or at least, he seemed to refocus on his tablet.

“I agree, but I would prefer someone less talkative.” Jack put his gun back together and loaded it. 

“Isn’t talkative what you used to call McCree when he was being annoying?” Genji asked, and Hanzo actually chuckled under his breath, but his face stayed stony and still like he didn’t want the rest of them to know he’d laughed. 

“Hey now, are you callin’ me annoying?” McCree started to do his own check on his gun, pulling it apart and putting it back together quickly. He did it with a bit more care for Peacekeeper than Jack afforded his gun, though.  

“Certainly not.” Genji shrugged and released his harness so he could grab his sword. “When you were young though, then you were definitely annoying.” 

McCree snorted, loading his gun, and if he didn’t know better, he would have said he caught a flash of a smile on Hanzo’s face. Jack released his harness now, the drop ship coming to its landing site, they weren’t supposed to get up, but nobody really followed that rule. Not unless they had just joined, so Hanzo just watched them while they got up and moved to the door before they’d touched down. Hanzo didn’t follow until they hit the ground, staggering out of the drop ship while it started to head back into the air. 

“It tends to not stay on the ground very long, get out quick.” Jack’s voice came out surprisingly gentle, it reminded McCree a lot of when Jack taught him on his first few missions. Hanzo just nodded though, McCree remembered being rather pissy whenever Jack made any comments about what he did on a mission. Hanzo took it much more kindly, nodding and muttering an agreement. 

The entry point wasn’t far from there, sticking close to each other as they made their way through some rocky bluffs. Staying hidden amongst the brush and orange rocks didn’t take a lot of effort, but the ridge was steep and the gravel made it easy to slip on if they made a wrong move. Hanzo and Genji had no problem, McCree had grown used to it after years of living in the area, Jack though, he slid a few times even if he tried to cover it up. 

By the time they made it to entry point, sweat poured down their faces and orange dirt even stuck to Genji’s metal bits. The four of them quietly slipped into the base through an access panel in the roof of one of the tunnels. From there, they split up into pairs, Genji with Jack and Hanzo with McCree because Jack seemed to want to handle everything, and McCree didn’t want to argue about it. He didn’t think Hanzo would risk their lives over some animosity, anyway, so it would turn out fine.

“You do know your way around.” Hanzo followed close behind McCree, watching his six with his bow already at the ready. McCree huffed, his hand on his gun, rubbing his finger on the holster. 

“No different than those tunnels under your mansion.” McCree kept his voice low. “You don’t forget things you learn young.” 

Hanzo paused, looking up at McCree just long enough for McCree to make eye contact with him. McCree could guess that maybe everything had clicked appropriately for him. It wasn’t like McCree ever explained anything about the Deadlock gang to him, even after dating for years. He never talked about Ashe or B.O.B, he’d always tried to forget the Deadlock gang as soon as he left, or at least avoid it. It wasn’t something McCree liked to talk about. They had sort of had an unspoken agreement that they didn’t talk about their affiliations, although McCree had a good idea of the kind of crime the Shimadas involved themselves in back then. Now he knew even more because of Genji, so it didn’t seem fair to keep all of this from Hanzo now. 

Lucky for McCree, Hanzo didn’t seem to need much more information. He kept quiet as they moved through the tunnels then, the two of them quietly moving as one now as they entered the inner part of the base. Sinking deeper into the tunnels and mountain and rocks as Hanzo watched his back felt off, especially when McCree had lived there, it had always been bustling with life, a constant movement, much like the Overwatch bases, now he could hardly catch a footstep in the distance. 

He always knew the noise of the Gibraltar base contributed to how easily he transitioned out of the gang headquarters and into the exact opposite situation at a world police force. This quiet must have been a testament to the gang’s dwindling numbers, just like the quiet back at home. It still left a bad feeling in McCree’s stomach. 

Hanzo grabbed his arm, McCree had gotten too into his own head to notice the rumbling that shook the base, coming from a corridor they weren’t planned to go down. They stood still for a while, listening to the noise until McCree caught the clear sound of Jack’s rifle, Hanzo must have realized it too, because they both started towards the sound at the same time, no explanation, no hesitation. 

The noise grew louder, McCree could hear Genji’s voice in the distance, and the moment that he did he flipped the comms on. “What’s going on?” Someone obviously noticed them already, McCree didn’t care if it put him and Hanzo in more danger there was no way he was leaving without Genji, or Jack even if he didn’t want to admit that. Hanzo’s intense look seemed like he tended to agree. 

“There’s something here, fast, moves like he’s disappearing.” Genji spoke quickly and sounded distant. “There are others. The old man is pinned right now. I am going try to drop the payload, hopefully that will take the heat off us.” 

“We’re on our way,” McCree glanced back at Hanzo, “You should go up.” 

“As soon as I can,” Hanzo said. They both nodded and kept moving in tight formation towards the noise of the heavy gunshots, like someone had sawed off shotguns. It sounded too familiar to McCree, he didn’t think about it too much, though. He wanted to focus on getting Genji and Jack to a safehouse where they could assess what the hell went so wrong so quickly. 

“Catwalk,” Hanzo said. McCree turned back in time to see Hanzo hop up and pull himself onto it in a swift motion, one that made McCree mildly envious as he turned to run underneath the catwalk just a step behind Hanzo. This part of the base used to be a store hold, but now massive machinery filled it to the brim, all of which looked like biotech of some sort. Stuff that McCree knew Deadlocks didn’t usually fuck with, and worse, certain machines that sat in this warehouse, McCree had seen in that warehouse he’d infiltrated with Genji a few months ago. 

“Ninja,” McCree skirted around a doorframe slowly, Hanzo just above him doing the same thing. 

Hanzo and Genji simultaneously responded to McCree, though, Hanzo sounded far more confused than Genji did when he said, “What?” 

“Sorry, I meant the younger ninja,” McCree said, and he actually heard a bark of laughter from Genji’s side of the comms. Hanzo looked down at him long enough to scowl. McCree didn’t really have time for that right now, unfortunately. “The person disappearing. Is there a flash of purple, or smoke?” 

“Smoke.” Genji said, “it’s not Sombra.” 

“Stay where you’re at, cowboy.” Jack’s voice broke through the comms with a crack. McCree couldn’t really tell, he seemed off somehow. “Don’t jeopardize the mission, the ninja and I have this.” 

“Who’re you talking to there, Jackie?” The growl came over the comms just barely, and then Jack’s comm promptly went dead. 

“Did you hear that?” Genji asked. McCree had already started running again, he had a good idea of Jack’s location at this point, and while he was disobeying a direct order, he needed an answer to the exact question the voice on the comms asked. Plus, like hell he’d call Jack his senior officer in this situation. 

“M- Cowboy,” Hanzo waved at him from the catwalk now that McCree had headed in the other direction. “Where are you going?” 

McCree paused and looked up at Hanzo. “No point in usin’ a code name, my guess is everyone here knows who I am anyway.”

Hanzo stared at him, and McCree’s shoulders dropped. “Listen,” McCree said. “I’m goin’ to get my stupid dad who’s probably going to die if I don’t.”

“Genji, are you all right?” Hanzo asked, turning his head to the side slightly. 

“Yes, back up Cowboy.” Genji’s voice had a hint of amusement to it, probably because he had a handle on his situation and had the time to afford it. “I have lost sight of the old man.”

“Are you all going to call me that from now?” McCree started towards the sounds of the guns again, Hanzo following closely to him on the catwalk. He didn’t really care for the idea of Hanzo going into this with him, but he knew better than to deny help when he might step into a trap. 

Hanzo and Genji responded simultaneously again, chirping out an irritating, “Yes.” Like they had when they would tease McCree together as kids. Honestly, McCree had to admit that felt nice at the moment. 

They got quiet again, and in the short span of time it took McCree and Hanzo to move down to the room where they could now hear Jack and someone else barking at each other and occasionally shooting, Genji had freed himself up to follow. 

McCree remembered the area well, just off the main logistics and transit center, the small room had been home to whichever unlucky asshole got guard duty on the latest shipment. He’d always hated spending nights there, and he’d only ever done a few. As he came around the corner, peering into the small room where Jack currently had himself in a corner behind a table, his gun up and one of his biotic fields out based on the faint, yellowish glow. 

The figure standing over him wasn’t currently shooting, the white owl mask gleaming under the dark hood as their voices died out. Reaper had become a rumor, something people spoke about but never saw and not many people actually thought he existed. Now McCree could see why they gave him that name. Approaching the small room from the cavernous transit center, Hanzo out of sight, McCree made sure that he wasn’t detected until he wanted to be. He needed to get the heat off of Jack. 

“I can get him from where I am if you get him out of that room.” Hanzo’s voice sounded calm over the comms. “Draw him out.” 

“No problem,” McCree said, and then he took a deep breath, raising his voice.l “Ay! Edgelord, get out here and quit picking on that old man.”

McCree raised his gun, his posture like he’d actually shoot, but he’d let Hanzo have this one. It wasn’t a glory game and his plan would likely work out better than McCree running in there and trying to gun the guy down. But the way Jack’s head came up from behind the table he’d been using to block the bullets, and the way the figure looked at him and laughed meant something had already gone horribly wrong. 

“I told you to stay put.” Jack growled, shooting at the figure, but he’d already turned himself into smoke, McCree watched the long coat flutter and become translucent as the creature came at him. McCree could only see the hood and owl mask as it towered over him.

Hanzo’s arrow flew right through the figure sticking in the ground to McCree’s right. He could hear Hanzo swearing over the comms now, and Genji was asking what was going on still too far to help. McCree straightened up, his gun out as the figure suddenly came back together, settling on the ground in front of McCree, close enough, his gun straight out so he could use it to shove McCree back. 

McCree, just stunned enough to falter, tripped over something behind him and fell on his ass, the hooded figure standing over him with the piercing owl mask hanging in the black hood. “Never thought you’d still be playing white hat, Joel.”

“W- What the hell are you talkin’ about?” McCree felt himself tense as one of the guns rose in his direction, for a moment, he thought that the end had finally found him, but instead, the figure reached up to touch the bottom of the owl mask, beginning to pull it off. 

“Don’t you dare!” Jack shoulder checked the figure, sending him flying just a few feet and as Jack stood over him, he sunk two bullets into the figure’s arm. “You will keep that god damn mask on.” 

The figure growled, throwing one of his guns up with his injured arm and taking a shot at Jack like Jack hadn’t even hit him a second ago. Jack wasn’t so lucky, taking the scatter shot full force and falling backwards. McCree had seen about enough, hearing Hanzo and Genji chattering over the comms as they tried to close in and contain the situation. 

“Die!” McCree snapped, taking a single shot at the owl mask. The figure turned to smoke again, hissing as he formed himself back into a person. 

“Such an ingrate, I never thought you of all people would take Jack’s side.” The figure made a move towards Jack, but one roll put McCree between them,  the adrenaline hitting McCree like a wave of unbridled rage. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” McCree took another shot at the figure, watching it hit his shoulder and have no effect. “I ain’t about to let some bullshit servant of hell get up get in my head. I am not falling for your tricks.” 

The figure moved slowly, dropping his guns and pulling two fresh ones from his coat, “Oh  _ mijo _ , I never expected you to stray so far from me.” 

McCree felt the ground quake underneath him, his eyes trapped on the figure as he raised the short nosed shotguns at him. He couldn’t move, his focus completely on this figure that was about to kill him when an arrow sunk into the figure’s chest, then another, and more followed so blindingly fast that McCree didn’t even see them until the Reaper had six arrows jutting from his torso. 

“Damn.” The figure stepped back, and another quake in the ground seemed to distract him. His mask then turned up, looking over the catwalks to find Hanzo, which gave Genji just enough time to appear in front of McCree, his sword at the ready. “Guess it’s your lucky day Joel. Which do you think was luckier, this one, or the day I found you?”

The figure turned himself into smoke, the arrows dropping to the ground with a horrible clatter before he floated away. Hanzo shot at him again, but Gabe had already turned a corner. McCree forced everything down, turning back to Jack and finding another of his biotic fields on his belt. He activated it as Hanzo jumped down to join them, the quaking grew consistent. 

“I delivered the payload,” Genji mumbled. He met McCree’s eyes briefly, the payload would likely ruin the whole facility, McCree just hoped it wouldn’t cost a bunch of kids their lives. “Everyone I saw had been altered by Talon,” Genji added, “but we need to leave.” 

McCree nodded numbly, giving Jack a few more seconds for the biotic field, but he didn’t wake back up. “I’ll carry the old man.” 

“I can lead.” Hanzo stood over them with his bow drawn, and as McCree carefully pulled Jack up into a fireman’s carry, Genji fell in line behind them like he had been ordered to. All three of them trudged through some small tunnels, he could hear the sound of people, but they didn’t see anyone in the tunnels, nor did anyone try to stop them from leaving.

When they came out, they stood on some high rocks, ones McCree recognized because he remembered being pinned there once, after they’d robbed a train and Overwatch had moved in while the best men had been out to hit the train. He didn’t like to admit it, he only realized he had potential for more in his life than robbing trains when Gabe told him he could do more. As Gabe had stared down on him much like he had that day, and commended him on skills with a gun, McCree had never expected that much kindness from anyone. 

Suddenly, he almost wished Gabe had just killed him right then and there. As he carried Jack up over the rocks and followed Hanzo down past the remains of the train where he’d found Echo, to the safe house where they laid Jack out, McCree remembered just how much it had hurt back then. Sitting in that very same diner in handcuffs, betrayed the people who frequented the place. Or even just a few months ago when he’d scared everyone out of the diner so their lives wouldn’t be at risk when Ashe and the Deadlock gang nearly threw a train down on top of it. 

The diner felt like a reminder of what he’d left behind the day he’d joined Overwatch, and the fact that it was still abandoned because of the few chunks of train and rubble left after his fight with Ashe. He’d called that on this diner, he’d tipped off the Deadlock gang so he could save Echo and now she was doing her best with everyone else to raise Overwatch from the dead. This wasn’t home for him anymore, but something about what he’d done to it, what Talon had done to it, made him feel something. Something he couldn’t explain to himself while Jack shuddered on the floor, half awake and bleeding out on the floor. 

The dropship came faster than McCree expected, Angela at the ready. She didn’t speak at all, and that made McCree’s bones rattle as he helped Hanzo move Jack onto the ship while Genji stood guard. They stayed quiet, listening to Angela work as Genji helped however he could. He knew the terms and the tools better than McCree, and frankly, Angela had taken one look at McCree and told him to sit down. 

She kicked him out of the medical bay the moment she could too, leaving McCree standing outside the door realizing he’d gotten covered in Jack’s blood at some point. Genji stayed in the medical bay, still helping Angela, and as he stood in front of the door, he couldn’t bring himself to move. He tried to listen through the door, but nothing came through the metal. 

Reality only hit him when a hand settled on his shoulder, Hanzo at his side and less covered in blood than McCree, but still splattered and red in places. He hadn’t seemed to notice just yet, though. “You should shower.”

McCree opened his mouth to argue, but he promptly closed it and just nodded at him. Hanzo’s face contorted with sympathy, watching McCree stagger away from the medical bay. He seemed to get the idea that McCree didn’t want anyone around though, trailing behind him at a pace enough to stay close to McCree if he needed Hanzo for some reason, but far enough that McCree might not have noticed he had followed if he didn’t know how to listen for Hanzo and Genji. 

Once he reached his room, he made his way to the bathroom, shedding bloody clothes and getting in the warm shower. McCree felt something inside him snap and he sobbed there for a while. He had always thought Gabe would turn up with Jack, he always thought he’d find the two of them together and now he had to deal with the fact that Gabe would have killed Jack without any hesitation. He would have killed McCree.

He dried off once he had control of himself and pulled clean clothes on, his hat didn’t have any blood on it as far as he could see, so he set it on his head. When he walked out of his room, he’d had every intention to go down to sit and look out on the gorge, instead, his legs carried him to Hanzo’s room, knocking rather than pushing the call button, maybe subconsciously hoping Hanzo didn’t hear.

Hanzo looked surprised when the door slid open, but he didn’t question it either. He sort of looked back at his room and then stepped back to let McCree inside. Honestly, it surprised McCree, but he stepped into Hanzo’s room, and let Hanzo shut the door behind him. 

“Are you alright?” Hanzo asked. McCree shook his head slightly, looking around the room a bit. The bed looked untouched, and McCree honestly wasn’t surprised that he’d pressed the couch against the wall and turned into a bed. Hanzo had clearly been sleeping there instead based on the pillow and blankets folded neatly on it. “Maybe you should sit down….” 

Hanzo seemed to realize that the only place for McCree to sit was the bed as he said it, but McCree didn’t really mind, too numb to really think anything through at the moment. Hanzo’s sleeping habits didn’t really matter to him. Hanzo watched him sit on the edge of his bed with a worried look on his face, shuffling to follow McCree. 

For a moment, Hanzo just stared at him, McCree trying to get his head around how to even begin with this. But he felt Hanzo’s hand on the brim of his hat, pushing it down on his head and then he swept it off. McCree felt his chest jerk slightly when Hanzo did it, because it felt just like when Hanzo did it to him as a kid, and McCree couldn’t help it, when he looked up at Hanzo with blurry vision and tears streaming down his face that felt hot against his skin. He knew Hanzo had no reason anymore to want to console him, but he wanted Hanzo to console him. He wanted to fall into Hanzo the way he had when Hanzo still loved him. All this just reminded McCree of what he didn’t have anymore. What they didn’t have anymore. 

Hanzo stared down at McCree in shock, and after a short moment, his eyes started to grow empathetic. McCree hadn’t expected it, for Hanzo to lean down and wrap him up in a tight hug, his hat forgotten on the floor. He leaned into Hanzo’s chest, still confused but not unhappy that Hanzo reached out to him. Somewhere, buried in the way Hanzo’s skin felt against his own, McCree knew that Hanzo wasn’t doing this because he felt he had to. If he had felt he had to do anything, he would have just kept talking to McCree or tried to offer McCree sake. 

This felt different than all of that, Hanzo cradling McCree’s head like he used to whenever he’d run out of words to try to make McCree let go of whatever worried him back then. The past had just reached out and grabbed onto both of them, Hanzo’s cheek resting on the top of McCree’s head as he tried to comprehend everything that had happened in the past 48 hours. 

“That was Gabe,” McCree mumbled, Hanzo still holding onto him. “That was why Jack didn’t want to tell me about what was going on.”

Hanzo shifted his hold and ran his hand down the back of McCree’s neck. “I had thought so. I was unsure if you had come to the same conclusion.” 

“Jack might not make it out of this.” McCree, shaken and tired could hear himself talking, but couldn’t really put a ton of meaning to the words, his feelings certainly weren’t catching up to him either. 

“He is not the type to die that easily,” Hanzo said. For a moment, McCree thought it he said it because it’s something people say in these situations, but when he looked up at Hanzo, he could see in Hanzo’s eyes that he wholeheartedly believed what he’d said. “You know I am right.”

McCree nodded slightly, and his hands fell around Hanzo’s middle easily, his fingers clinging to the fabric of his gi. “I never knew he was trying to protect me.” 

“That is something that we often find of our parents.” Hanzo’s voice sounded like it may crack when he said it, but he kept himself together, clearly for McCree’s sake. “You will have the chance to thank him for trying.” 

He looked up at Hanzo again, his eyes watery and his head starting to hurt. McCree had never really been the type to cry, and suddenly the urge to lean into Hanzo more, to ask more of him, to pretend that they still had each other and let Hanzo lick his wounds. It washed over his whole body in a way that made McCree feel like he intruded on Hanzo’s room, wiping his face off and trying to shake away the feeling. 

Hanzo’s hands gently pressed McCree back into the bed to force him to lie down. “Take a moment, do not try to make this quick,” he said. McCree wasn’t really sure what he meant, but he let Hanzo press close to him and let himself close his eyes and fall into the fantasy that Hanzo cared about him in the same way that he used to. He wondered, briefly, if what Hanzo was doing was cruel. It didn’t really matter, McCree had already convinced himself that he needed this. 

When McCree finally felt himself calm down and fall back into the tired numbness, he sort of wanted to stay there, his face pressed into Hanzo’s chest and his arms wrapped loosely around him. He wanted to keep pretending, even if he knew it would just hurt more later.   
“I should go.” McCree moved slightly, and Hanzo easily let him go. He watched McCree move carefully, as McCree swept up his hat and paused by the door. Hanzo had gotten up to follow, his face pressed almost painfully into a stoney look. One that he used to cover up feelings just like when they were young. 

“It doesn’t look like it.” McCree cleared his throat. “but you can push the bed into that corner, and then fit the couch next to it without interfering with the closet door. Might make it easier to sleep in the bed.” 

Hanzo turned towards the bed slowly, and then looked back at McCree as he started through the door. McCree hadn’t fully turned around yet when Hanzo grabbed his arm. His eyes suddenly had a fire in them, one McCree hadn’t seen in ages as he held onto McCree so tightly it sort of hurt. His mouth opened, and for a moment, McCree thought this would end up with Hanzo not saying anything, just like all the other times Hanzo had tried to say something to him and stopped himself. 

But this time, Hanzo spat out, “I could sleep in the bed if you were in it with me.” And McCree had to admit that was the worst way for Hanzo to say that he wanted to sleep next to someone if he hadn’t known that Hanzo used to kick anyone he had sex with out of his bed afterwards. He had never liked sharing his bed, and on the occasion that Hanzo spoke honestly about it, he always admitted to not liking the people he slept with before meeting McCree much at all. McCree knew he had been the only one ever allowed to stay. 

McCree felt something break inside him, watching Hanzo’s eyes change as he realized what he’d said. He stepped into Hanzo’s space, forcing him back into his room carefully so the door would close behind them. His hands found Hanzo’s shoulders, and he wrapped them around Hanzo tightly despite every fiber of his being telling him to kiss him. McCree didn’t want to lose this moment of honesty, this single time when Hanzo hadn’t treated him coldly and hadn’t pushed him away, and even admitted to wanting McCree around. He didn’t want to ruin something so pure and simple by trying to force their romance back together. 

“I will hold on to you,” McCree said, voice trembling. “If you just fucking ask. I’m here Hanzo.” 

He felt Hanzo tense, his arms at his side as he seemed to try to decide what he wanted to do, and for a second, McCree thought he might hug him back. But he straightened up, set his hands on McCree’s shoulders and carefully pushed him back. “I am sorry,” Hanzo said, “I should not have said anything.” 

McCree let Hanzo push him out of his room, watching Hanzo’s eyes. He had that stoney look on his face again, the painful one, but McCree could see the tears, he could see all the heat and fire that Hanzo used to always have in his eyes around McCree. He had a feeling that Hanzo didn’t want to push him away. McCree’s head still told him that he hadn’t read Hanzo right. 

“You were right.” Hanzo opened and closed his mouth again and then looked up at McCree like he might actually start to cry. “You should go.” 

His stomach settled in his throat, wishing he could bring himself to be stubborn. To push back and get Hanzo to explain himself. McCree let the door close in front of him, he knew that he had already lost.

When he got back to his room, half a bottle of whiskey had appeared on the coffee table. He grabbed it, a sudden rush of anger hitting him and as he ran down the stairwell to the catwalk where he so often watched the sunset, he figured out what he needed to do. If only he could make himself as uncaring and stoney as Hanzo, or as guarded and tight lipped as Jack. 

He smashed the bottle on the railing, in his left hand so he wouldn’t cut himself and watched the glittering glass fall down over the gorge. He struggled to breathe, and he felt like he might not be able to breathe at all soon, choking on his tongue and the air he tried to take in. He ground his teeth down, dropped the rest of the bottle and watched it tumble down into the distance.

McCree then got up, found his hat where it had fallen off in the stairwell and walked back to his room. He sat himself on the floor, pulling up a floorboard and looking over the contents. A small leatherbound journal written in English by Hanzo. That got set aside fast, and he instead reached for the small jewelry box, still with a bow tied around it. Poorly, because he’d done it himself.

The box and bow had grown dusty, wiping it clean as he removed the bow, McCree opened it, and looked over the still glittering gold ring. It was simple, something McCree had picked up years ago with a small HS and JM inscribed on the inside of it.

When he had come back up, he had wanted to throw it into the gorge. Now, he stared at it and carefully set it back in the box, closing it and putting it back where it belonged with the journal. He sat on the floor there, for a good long while and let himself think about how everything had gone so wrong so fast. 

A few hours later, Genji found him in his room, asking for a cigarette and some company. McCree obliged, heading down to look over the gorge while they both chain smoked and tried to get over the past two days. 

“Angela would not tell me exactly how well he fared,” Genji said after a long while. “But she was less frantic when she told me to leave.” 

“That’s always a good sign.” McCree had hit a point of sedation, talking about Jack felt like more of a bad dream at this point. He’d grown used to the waking nightmares years ago.

“You know.” Genji looked McCree over for a moment, “I saw Hanzo while I was on my way to your room. He was climbing one of the ridges on the West side of the base.” 

McCree just hummed softly, taking another drag on his cigarette. 

“He usually only does things like that when he is upset.” Genji watched McCree’s face, so McCree did his best to keep it from moving for now. He didn’t want to give away what had happened. 

It took Genji a few minutes, but eventually he sighed and set his head in his hand. “I guess I will find out eventually,” he said, “if you need someone to talk to, you know I am here.” 

“I know.” McCree took a deep breath and then took another drag of his cigarette. “That was Gabe back there, that Reaper that we’ve been hearing about.” 

“I know.” Genji looked back at the gorge and flicked his cigarette butt away. “I’m so sorry, Jesse.” 

McCree shook his head a bit. “Even if that was Gabe, it’s clear he ain’t the same person in the head anymore.” 

Genji hummed softly, “Jack clearly didn’t want either of us to know it. The first thing he did when he saw him was lure him away from me.” 

“I’m not surprised, Jack nearly killed him for trying to take his mask off in front of me.” McCree shifted himself and then glanced at Genji. “He kept callin’ me Joel. Gabe did.” 

Genji looked back at him, “Joel was your name before, correct? And a pseudonym you use while writing sometimes.” 

McCree nodded and then sort of shrugged. “Yeah,” he said “My name was Joel. I changed it when I joined so they could protect my identity, but it became completely detached from me.” 

“I could imagine why.” Genji looked McCree over and then ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up since it still sort of stuck to his head from being under his helmet. “I remember when I knew you in Japan, when you were dating my brother. You told me back then once that you weren’t a good person before meeting your family. You must feel even further from that life now.” 

“Yeah.” McCree’s eyes followed the river down the gorge, his body had started to grow cold from the sun going down. He had forgotten his coat in all of the mess of emotion, and in the ups and downs he had forgotten how to feel cold. Now Genji reminded him that he should feel the chilled wind and shiver like a leaf because he grew up in a desert. “Never thought the person who taught me to be good would turn out so evil. Poor Jack.” 

Genji sighed. “I wonder if Ana knows.” 

“If she was with Jack before he got here, my guess is yes.” McCree rolled himself a new cigarette and lit it, his fingers briefly warmed by the lighter. He shivered, looking at Genji briefly. “How are you out here without any god damn pants on and I’m the one shivering?” 

Genji chuckled and looked down at himself, “one advantage of having an omnic core. Keeps you warm.”

“You really need to start wearing pants though,” McCree said. Genji pouted and took another drag on his cigarette.   
“I am happy with my body.” He stuck his nose up in the air as McCree stood up, and McCree patted him on the head. 

McCree flicked his cigarette butt off into the gorge. “So am I, but ya’ gotta wear clothes man,” he said and then smiled. “Glad you’re still doin’ good, Genji.” 

Genji watched him turn and start back towards the stairs. “I hope you are doing good soon, Jesse.” 

He took a deep breath and sort of waved at Genji, heading up the stairs to his room. He paused at the door, shuffling his feet for a moment before he walked to Ana’s room. He pressed the call button, and when Ana opened the door, she looked like she had expected him. 

“You’re not drunk.” Ana crossed her arms and leaned on the door frame. 

“No, but I broke the bottle on a railing and threw it into the gorge,” McCree said. Ana shrugged and waved for McCree to follow her into her room. 

“Well, progress comes in small steps,” Ana said. McCree sat with her and talked for a while, he didn’t talk about Hanzo even though he had wanted to. By the time he left, it had grown so dark and so cold and he still didn’t have a coat, or his serape. 

McCree wrapped his arms around himself, trying to keep warm as he made his way down the catwalk. He could hear the rattling of someone on the staircase in the distance, and when he didn’t meet anyone on the stairs, something made him pause. The wind had gotten strong, strong enough that McCree had to hold his hat down on his head to keep it on. 

He looked down over the lower catwalk, catching the light of a cigarette in the distance. He couldn’t imagine Genji would still be sitting out there, and he also couldn’t imagine anyone else would be down there smoking. Hana wouldn’t even look at a cigarette, and even Torbjorn had quit at some point. Something about the light drew McCree to it, his boots clicking on the metal lattice that made up the walkway. 

Hanzo, no coat or anything, his skin looking a bit pink already, hung over the lower support bar of the railing. He had a lit cigarette in his fingers, and a bottle clutched close to his body, using the extra support to keep it up right. 

For a moment, McCree thought he should leave, but then again, he’d want someone to drag him into bed if they found him like this. “Hanzo,” McCree said, getting closer. He didn’t want to startled him. “You awake?” 

Hanzo’s head rose, slowly, his eyes swimming from place to place before they landed on McCree. His face screwed up for a moment, and then he chuckled in a way that sounded sad. “My head must be playing tricks on me,” he said. “You are not stupid enough to be down here right now.” 

McCree actually couldn’t help chuckling back, his hand still on his hat as Hanzo took a drag of his cigarette. “Hate to tell ya’, I’m really here. And really that stupid.” 

“Well, then, what are you doing down here?” Hanzo shifted his hand, pulling the bottle of whiskey up to take a swig. With a deep sigh, McCree realized Hanzo had less than half the bottle left, and he had a lot of questions about the fact that Hanzo had a bottle of whiskey instead of sake. 

“Saw the light from your cigarette coming back from Ana’s room.” McCree stopped and carefully pulled the bit of leather cord inside his hat out, using it to sling the hat around his neck so he wouldn’t lose it if he let it go. “What are you doin’ down here?” 

Hanzo didn’t answer, he raised the bottle and then took another swig from it instead. McCree carefully grabbed the bottle when Hanzo started to lower it, taking it away from him in an easy motion. Hanzo didn’t really try to resist. 

“I think that’s maybe enough of that.” McCree sat down and set the bottle on the other side of him to keep it out of Hanzo’s reach. 

“That is fair.” Hanzo took a drag on his cigarette and looked at McCree. “Why are you down here?” 

“I’m gonna be honest,” McCree said, “I don’t want to find out you had fallen over the railing when I was the last person who saw you.” 

Hanzo hummed. “Yes, that sounds like you.” 

“Does it?” McCree asked. Hanzo just nodded. He still looked sad, snuffing out his cigarette and tossing the butt. He then carefully set his head down on his arm, and for a moment, looked like he might fall asleep right there. “You need to go back to your room,” McCree said, “You can’t sleep here.” 

“Who is Ashe?” Hanzo kept his voice low, but McCree couldn’t find any jealousy or animosity in it. Hanzo just, seemed like he wanted to know. Know more about McCree. 

McCree, despite himself, sighed and rolled his eyes. Even drunk as shit, Hanzo still seemed to want to mess with his head and McCree didn’t like it. He hated Hanzo liking him one second and trying to shove him away the next second. He wasn’t going to let Hanzo drag him around with his mood swings. “She was the leader of the gang. Remember my tattoo?” 

Hanzo nodded, slowly, his eyes finding McCree’s metal arm, his head still on his arms like he might sleep. McCree wanted this to be end before it really began. “You can’t sleep here, Hanzo.” 

“You are probably right.” Hanzo didn’t move, his hair fluttering softly in the wind. 

“Why are you doin’ this, Han?” McCree frowned, and Hanzo shook his head briefly, muttering something, so quiet McCree almost didn’t catch it. But after thinking a moment, listening to the wind and piecing together the sounds, he was almost certain Hanzo had said, ‘because I deserve it’. He wasn’t sure though, and in the next second, Hanzo tried to stand, so McCree got to his feet. 

“D- Don’t.” Hanzo lightly swatted at McCree’s chest, his eyes squeezing shut for a moment. “You’re, too close.” 

“I’m not lettin’ you go, you’re gonna fall,” McCree said. “If you want me to let go, walk.” 

Hanzo grunted something, and swore under his breath in Japanese, but he did start to walk. He let McCree support him, and about halfway up the stairs, Hanzo leaned on McCree so much, that McCree hooked his arm under one of Hanzo’s and basically carried him the rest of the way. 

He slurred the whole time, incomprehensible Japanese that occasionally seemed to form words, but McCree couldn’t really understand them fully. Every word just slightly wrong as it came out of Hanzo’s mouth, even when he got clearer, the strings of words didn’t collect into actual sentences as far as McCree could tell. 

Hanzo’s room smelled like freshly cooked rice, and from what McCree could tell, a rice cooker on the counter had just finished its cycle, its light green indicating that it had finished cooking. It was just about the only light in the room. He set Hanzo down on the bed, and surprisingly enough, Hanzo managed to sit up there by himself, his eyes swimming again until they found McCree. 

McCree took some of the rice, scooping it into a bowl that Hanzo had clearly used earlier. He then went back to Hanzo, putting it in his hands with a spoon and telling him to eat. Hanzo seemed to understand that, and McCree sort of wondered if he’d made the rice knowing that he’d eat it once he was piss drunk. He got a glass of water, forced Hanzo to drink it, and then put a second glass by his nightstand. Hanzo probably still had a bad morning ahead of him, but at least the food and water would help a little.

“ _ Why are you being so nice _ ?” Hanzo’s head hung low, still slowly eating the bowl of rice McCree had given him. 

“Because I’ve been here before.” McCree took the bowl from Hanzo once he had slowed down enough that he wasn’t going to really eat anymore so much as just chew on the rice. He then made him drink more water. 

Once Hanzo actually settled down, his head on the pillow, McCree got up, figuring he should leave considering Hanzo hadn’t wanted him around earlier. But as he started for the door, Hanzo’s hand wrapped around McCree’s own, holding him there, not very hard or anything, just holding onto him. 

“Need somethin’?” McCree asked. Hanzo’s hand still felt cold from being outside. 

“ _ Will you stay? _ ” Hanzo’s voice sounded weak, and for a moment, McCree wanted to be sympathetic, but he shook from the cold, tired and worn out from everything. And, if he wanted to tell the truth, Hanzo had made him so angry earlier that he’d considered drinking that bottle of whiskey Ana had left in his room. 

“Do you actually want me around? Or are you just going to shove me out the door in five minutes again?” McCree bit down on his words, his drawl coming through on every single one. He hadn’t realized how loud he’d gotten until he noticed Hanzo cower in that way he did if McCree yelled around him when they were kids. It came from dealing with his father, McCree knew. 

Hanzo let go of his hand.  _ “I am sorry. _ ”

“For what?” McCree’s voice came out too loud, and he tried to force some control now after seeing Hanzo cringe again. 

Hanzo picked himself up on an elbow, making eye contact with McCree in a way that made McCree’s chest tighten so much his stomach hurt. “ _ When I am sober I know I do not deserve you. When I am drunk I forget and get hopeful. _ ” 

McCree set his jaw, grinding his teeth and trying to focus on Hanzo for a moment. He knew he should be mad, but when he felt the tears start to run down his face again, he knew he wasn’t going to get mad. “We can talk about this in the morning,” McCree said. “Move over.” 

Hanzo looked confused, moving over in the bed as McCree went over to the couch, pulling the blankets off of it. He laid down next to Hanzo, pulling the blankets over them and then he pulled Hanzo close. Even when drunk, it made Hanzo go all stiff and awkward, it didn’t take long for him to relax though, planting his face in McCree’s shoulder and his hands found purchase holding onto McCree’s shirt. 

“I am sorry I made you leave earlier.” Hanzo’s voice broke a bit at the end of his sentence, and the words came out in English all the sudden. When Hanzo got drunk, he rarely spoke in anything other than Japanese, as if he forgot how to speak any other languages once he had enough alcohol in him. Right now, it felt like Hanzo needed to make sure McCree understood, so he spoke to him in English and McCree felt himself melt a bit again. 

“Go to sleep.” McCree kept his voice soft and low, carefully tugging the tie out of Hanzo’s hair and carefully setting it aside. He wiped his face off, and let himself settle. “We can talk in the morning.” 

Hanzo nodded slightly, relaxing more as he started to fall asleep as he had out on the catwalk. McCree took a deep breath, for a moment, wondering why he was there at all, and then he settled his head in Hanzo’s hair. It felt like he fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes. 

 

_ “My father was killed.” Hanzo spoke softly, holding onto McCree’s forearms tightly as they stood in the airport where Hanzo had met him. McCree’s throat tightened, his hands coming up to Hanzo’s face, trying to gauge how to react. The backpack on his shoulders, it felt like he had a million pounds in it as Hanzo’s shoulders started to shudder, and McCree thought over the little box, buried in the bottom of his bag, the ring he’d bought.  _

_ “We can leave right now.” McCree kept his voice soft. “We can leave right now, go back to where I came from and stay there.”  _

_ Hanzo swallowed, a hollow look on his face. “The elders have gotten interested in Genji. My mother, she can’t protect him anymore, she can’t protect me.”  _

_ “Is she going?” McCree asked.  _

_“And Genji,” Hanzo’s eyes fixed on McCree’s chest,_ _ignoring the question, “He won’t listen to me for anything. Anything I say, he will not come with me, he will not stay with me, I cannot protect him if I am not here.”_

_ McCree nodded, “Okay, okay. Let’s get out of here. We can go to the hotel.”  _

_ “There’s a car outside waiting for me.” Hanzo gripped McCree’s sleeves. “Listen to me. They don’t know that I’m with you right now, but if I try to leave the airport they will only take me back. Go, go home and come back to get Genji and I. I can convince him by then, but they... They can’t see you now.”  _

_ “Hanzo…” McCree held onto his shoulders, Hanzo’s hands shaking as he tightened his grip again.  _

_ “Please.”  _

_ McCree took a deep breath and nodded. He pulled Hanzo into a short kiss, giving him a hug before he turned around. By the time he looked back, Hanzo had already made himself disappear into the crowd. Something in McCree’s gut told him to go back right away, to grab Hanzo and go, but he knew that wouldn’t work. So he got on a plane and went back to Gibraltar.  _

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, so sorry it's been a little longer than expected! Just to give y'all a bit of an update, I lost my job the day after Christmas and my life spiraled for a lil' bit for a while there but I have a new job now! Since I have a new job, I decided I would get ahead again, so I waited on posting Chapter 8 until February even though it was done in January. 
> 
> Also, I have pretty much officially stopped using Tumblr! If you want updates on when my fic is coming out, please follow me on Twitter!! You can find me at @Galaxiebot

_ “Your hands are cold.” Hanzo kissed the back of McCree’s knuckles gently, his eyes lidded and tired. McCree climbed back into bed, letting Hanzo curl himself around his forearm like he would a stuffed animal.  _

_ McCree chuckled, pressing kisses to Hanzo’s forehead and settling himself against Hanzo for the warmth. “Well, it’s cold outside.”  _

_ “What were you doing outside?” Hanzo looked up at McCree, big brown eyes fixated on him. Clearly McCree had woken him up despite his best efforts, and now that he had, Hanzo would stay awake.  _

_ “Buying cigarettes.” McCree said, watching Hanzo’s hair fall over his shoulders as he pouted at McCree. He’d been harping on him to quit again, but Hanzo usually grabbed one first when they finished in bed. “And picked up some rice for you since we’re out.” _

_ Hanzo hummed and pulled McCree closer to him once McCree had settled into the bed. He settled his chin on McCree’s shoulder, a smile crawling on his face, “I had expected you to be in the bathroom all morning.”  _

_ McCree chuckled. “Beer doesn’t make me puke. It’s the sake that does that.”  _

_ “The whiskey does it too, you just don’t like to admit it.” Hanzo teased and kept his eyes on McCree’s face.  _

_ “Maybe,” McCree mumbled. “What’re you lookin’ at me like that for?”  _

_ Hanzo smiled, shifting himself to kiss McCree’s forehead. “Trying to memorize your face.”  _

_ McCree laughed as Hanzo settled down on top of him, trying to pick up Hanzo’s waist so he wouldn’t get crushed.  _

  
  


McCree woke up alone to the sound of someone banging on the door. As he came back into reality, he took a deep breath and found a note on the pillow next to him. It was written in Japanese though, so he wasn’t quite sure what it said. 

The banging got louder after it paused for a moment and as McCree started to hear someone calling Hanzo’s name, he stumbled out of the bed and found his hat. 

“Hanzo!” Hana yelled. At least McCree guessed it was Hana who stood on the other side of the door, based on the fact that the next string of words shouted through it sounded like Korean. He turned the note over briefly, and decided to take it with him, slipping it into his shirt pocket before he paused at the desk near Hanzo’s bed, Hana still banging on the door. Parked in the middle of the desk Hanzo had a worn leather journal similar to the one that still sat in McCree’s room under a floor board. He picked it up, not thinking, surprised that Hanzo wrote in Japanese. McCree realized that he shouldn’t surprise him, though it hammered home the idea he’d had that Hanzo wanted McCree to find the other journal.

The banging paused again, and McCree picked up the pen that sat on top of the journal, thinking to himself for a bit. He flipped it open to check about how long most of Hanzo’s entries were, usually three pages each, it was only pocket sized after all. McCree flipped about fifteen pages after Hanzo’s last entry, and wrote down exactly what he had rattling around in his head in the moment. It read: 

Hanzo, 

I’m still in love with you too. 

-Jesse

After he stared at it for a while, and the banging on the door started again, McCree carefully tore the very corner of the page out, so Hanzo wouldn’t see the note if he just flipped through the book. Then he spent some time settling it back on the desk exactly as he’d found it, the pen resting on top of it. He pulled his shoes on, made sure to hold his head up high and opened the door for Hana, who spoke rapidly in Korean until she caught up with the sight of McCree standing in Hanzo’s doorway. 

“McCree?” She looked around briefly, and then behind McCree just enough to see the inside of Hanzo’s room. “What are you doing here? Is Hanzo here with you?” 

McCree shook his head and pulled the note out of his shirt pocket. “He’s not, can you tell me what this says?” 

Hana took the note when McCree held it out for her, her head tilting to one side as the door shut behind McCree. “It just says ‘sick, sorry.’”

“Sounds about right,” McCree said and took the note back from her. Hana seemed amused though, her brow quirking and a smirk growing on her face. 

“What are you doing here McCree? Did the two of you get drunk last night?” Hana asked. 

McCree scoffed. “Think I’d look this good if I were hungover? I ain’t twenty like some people.”

“Likely excuse,” Hana said and crossed her arms. “Why are you here McCree?” 

“I found Hanzo piss drunk down on the catwalk by the gorge last night,” McCree said. “I brought him back here and made sure he didn’t drown in his own vomit. ‘M sure he’s run off somewhere to spend the next few hours vomiting his guts inside out.”

Hana made a face, following McCree as he started to walk towards his room. “Wait, McCree. Do you know why he was drinking so much?” 

McCree paused, looking back at her for a moment. She shuffled her feet, for once not looking completely confident in herself. “I think he felt guilty about Jack,” McCree said. “Or somethin’ like that, he was too drunk to really make sense last night.” 

“You know, I’ve been kind of worried about him.” Hana fell in step with McCree now, “I’m glad you were there for him. I’ve never really seen him spend time with anyone besides fighting with Genji.” 

“I see him with you sometimes.” McCree slipped his hands into his pockets, looking down at Hana. She seemed so genuinely anxious for Hanzo, McCree knew she cared deeply about her team, he’d always known that she did and he rather admired her for it, but this made him smile. 

“Only because I’ve been forcing him to teach me how to climb like him and Genji do.” Hana rubbed the back of her head and sighed, looking up at McCree. “He thinks I don’t know, I think. About what happened between him and Genji, and I think it’s the only reason he lets me be around him.” 

“What do you mean?” McCree asked, and Hana crossed her arms. 

“I think he isolates himself because he thinks he’s done something that’s left him irredeemable.” Hana glanced back at McCree. “I’ve been spending time with him because I’m the only one that can get close. Genji asks me how he is, he’s worried too.” 

McCree watched her for a moment as he thought everything from the night before over. He really couldn’t remember seeing Hanzo outside of his room much, that one time with Jack, and then training. “Who told you about him and Genji?” 

“Lena did, accidentally once when she forgot I was in the room while she was talking with Ana. But, when I talked to Genji about it, he sounded so sad I’d found out. He sounded sad for Hanzo.” Hana shook her head. “He doesn’t want people to treat Hanzo like an outsider, so obviously he’s forgiven Hanzo for a reason. I don’t know it, butㅡ”

McCree shook his hand at her a tiny bit. “I know why, don’t worry. There’s a lot to those to you can never understand without knowing their family.”

Hana blinked at him, slowly, and then she pouted. “You’ve known them a lot longer than you let on, don’t you?” 

“Yeah.” McCree’s shoulders dropped. “Listen, keep doing what you’re doin’, spend time with Hanzo, you’re right, he shouldn’t be treated like an outsider, that’s not why Genji invited him here.” 

“Okay,” Hana said. “But how is this going to fix anything?” 

“I’ll, I can work on the rest,” McCree said. She didn’t seem too satisfied with that answer, frowning at him and uncrossing her arms. 

“How long have you known Hanzo and Genji anyway?” Hana asked. “And how did you even meet them?” 

McCree sighed. She had that look on her face like she wasn’t about to let this go. “I met them on my first solo mission shortly after joining Overwatch. I was maybe your age? How old are you again?” 

“Ninteen,” Hana said. “You’ve really known them that long?” 

“I was your age then,” McCree said. “Long ass time ago, I still had two arms back then.” 

Hana chuckled slightly. “Okay. Just, Look out for Hanzo and I know Genji’s your best friend and all. They both need it.” 

McCree stopped himself from trying to correct her, it would probably only lead her down the path to the truth and he didn’t want her to know just yet. He’d tell her eventually that he and Hanzo dated for years before Overwatch fell and Genji seemed more like a younger brother than just his best friend at this point. 

“I will, I promise.” McCree cracked a smile though, reaching over to rustle Hana’s hair. “You’re a good kid though Hana, you’re the future of Overwatch and I think it’s a good one.” 

Hana, for the first time McCree had ever seen, faltered, trying to straighten her hair and hide the bashful look she got on her face. It only took a moment for her to get right back to her usual self, frowning and standing her ground. 

“I’m not a kid!” She crossed her arms again, looking ready to fight. 

“You’ll always be a kid, same way Genji is.” McCree chuckled, walking the rest of his way to his room and hitting the door button. Hana looked less angry after that. 

“Fine, if Genji’s still a kid, I can be a kid too.” She huffed, but McCree could still see the slight worry in her face. “Thank you, McCree.” 

“Of course Hana,” McCree said and slipped into his room. He took a hot shower, spending some time just banging his head against the wall while he wondered if he could get back into Hanzo’s room to tear that note out of his journal. It would probably just make Hanzo push him away more, he didn’t understand why he’d written that down, but he couldn’t change it now. 

When he got out of the shower, McCree dried himself off and found clean clothes. Once he had a soft flannel on he felt better, gathering up the blood stained clothes and any other dirty laundry he had before he chucked it all into the washer, and then set about thoroughly cleaning his kitchenette. Honestly, the spotless state of Hanzo’s had sort of made him feel bad about his own. He hadn’t made much in there, but the few times he had cooked since getting back to base largely involved him letting a pot or two of chili over boil by mistake. He hadn’t even been drunk. He was just forgetful. 

House chores felt sort of nice, so he pulled all his sheets off his bed and put those in the washer too, gathering up his comforter so he could lay it out flat and vacuum it since it wouldn’t fit in the washer and he didn’t have a clothes line available. He folded it and set it on his couch while he used his bed to fold his clean clothes, his sheets in the dryer. 

He then scrubbed his bathroom top to bottom, getting rid of some older stuff he had before he vacuumed the rest of his little room. Honestly, when he finished, he kind of wished he had more to clean, looking at his freshly made bed and his closet that no longer had dirty laundry flowing out of it. Only a matter of time before it was all a mess again, but it still felt nice in the moment. 

“Agent McCree, I have a message from Dr. Ziegler.” Athena’s voice came over the speakers above him, and McCree looked up at the ceiling, which he hadn’t done since he first got to Gibraltar years ago.

“Put it through, please,” McCree said and Angela’s voice came over the speaker next. 

“Jack’s condition has stabilized. He’s unconscious still, I will keep you updated,” Angela said, and then with a chirp she added, “You should be able to see him soon.” 

McCree smiled, taking a deep breath. “Thanks Ang.” 

He started to settle back into his cleaning when with another little chirp, Athena’s voice came over the intercom again. “Agent Oxton requests you come down to the briefing room.” 

McCree groaned softly. “Acknowledged.” He found his hat, leaving his room after he dropped the vacuum in the middle of the rug he’d been desperately trying to get the dust out of. 

He made his way down to the main base quickly, wrapped in his serape and smoking a cigarette. His fingers felt numb by the time he had to snuff out the cigarette so he could slip into the main base, shivering as he wandered down the halls to the briefing room, walking in to find Lena, Ana, Genji, and Hanzo all sitting in various seats around the table. 

“Are you hungover?” Genji asked, his eyes narrow. Hanzo still looked rather green around the gills, sitting straight up in his seat with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes cast down on the table as Genji spoke to him. “You’ve kind of got that look to you.” 

“Please leave me alone,” Hanzo said, his eyes trailing up to briefly acknowledge McCree, but for a moment, he looked like moving his line of sight too much set him off balance, even in a chair. His eyes rolled back to the table quickly, and McCree could see that same look he’d always get the day after he drank too much.

Genji huffed, setting his head in his hand as McCree sat on the other side of Hanzo. “He looks hungover, doesn’t he McCree?” 

“Genji, please.” Hanzo turned his head just enough to glare at him. 

“He looks fine,” McCree said. Genji narrowed his eyes at him quickly, but McCree didn’t give him the chance to push it, turning towards Ana and Lena. “Are we here for a debriefing?” 

Ana sipped on her cup of tea, Lena walking over to each of them with tablets. They both looked stiff, like they had some sort of bad news to give them. “We have intel that Talon might be moving in on Helix again.” 

Genji completely forgot about teasing Hanzo, taking the tablet so he could look at it. “What would they want at Helix?”

“What is Helix?” Hanzo asked, looking at his own tablet a bit, but he had mostly turned towards Lena and Ana. 

McCree didn’t even pick up his own, watching Ana’s face for a moment. “Security company. Overwatch had them on Anubis for years, and they run the prison that Doomfist broke out of.” 

“Akande?” Hanzo asked, and made a noise when Genji confirmed. 

“We fear that they might be after weapons stored at the Grand Mesa facility,” Lena explained. “They had a break in not too long ago, only one rifle stolen, and if you look, I’m sure you’ll recognize the thief.” 

McCree frowned, flipping through the photos until he saw a security camera still of Jack moving through the halls of the facility. “Seems about right,” McCree said. “Akande’s already got his weapon, what could they possibly be after?” 

Lena took a deep breath. “A lot of things, from the prototype of the Slipstream to countless pieces of technology and code that could used to hack Echo.” 

“So there’s a lot they could gain by accessing it.” Genji frowned, flipping through intel and reading parts while Lena spoke. McCree started to tune out, chewing on his cheek while he thought over the Grand Mesa base. He knew a bit about it, and he knew what Overwatch could have left down there, he’d overheard Jack and Gabe talking about it here and there. But what had him the most nervous, was the cool way Ana looked down at her tea. 

“McCree, you know the facility the best,” Lena said. McCree snapped his attention back to her, and then he looked at Ana again. 

“Is there a reason we’re getting up in Helix’s business?” He looked between Lena and Ana one more time, and this time, Ana picked up her head to speak. 

“Echo caught a transmission that they transferred on to me.” Her eyes looked cold and calculative. “Call tag Pharah is MIA.” 

McCree could guess what that meant, and Genji’s head popped up to look at Ana while Hanzo kept his nose in the intel on his tablet. The two of them shared a look, and then Genji frowned. 

“We’ll go, what do you need us to do?” Genji asked, and Hanzo looked up at that point, a little bit confused. He didn’t look like he’d argue against it, but he also looked like he didn’t understand Genji’s sudden intensity. 

“Yeah, no questions, I’m in.” McCree crossed his arms, leaning back in his seat. Hanzo looked equally confused about McCree’s immediate agreement, setting his tablet down now. Lena and Ana both turned their attention to him, and still looking green around the gills, Hanzo didn’t seem like he wanted to talk much, maybe for fear of puking.

“I am not going to say no,” Hanzo said. He still didn’t look like he understood the intensity, but no one really looked inclined to explain it in front of Ana, and McCree wasn’t even sure if he could. He couldn’t handle Fareeha getting hurt in any capacity, something about her being MIA unsettled him. 

“Good.” Ana’s voice snapped McCree out of that train of thought. “You’ll be heading out tonight. Be ready.” 

Genji and Hanzo confirmed quickly, so McCree followed suit, feeling a bit like a zombie as his head went right back to thinking about where Fareeha might be. He maybe hadn’t seen her in a long time, and now he wondered why he hadn’t. His inability to travel as a fugitive had a part in it, of course, but he’d heard from her here or there after the fall of Overwatch, even after he’d rescued Echo he’d gotten an e-mail asking if he’d done it from her. Now that he thought of it, he hasn’t heard a word from Fareeha since he got to Gibraltar and that terrified him. 

McCree got up without thinking really, taking the tablet they’d given him and heading out of the briefing room. He didn’t see where Hanzo or Genji went, so when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he jumped and instinctively reached for Peacekeeper. Luckily, he’d left his gun safely in his room and he probably would have realized before he shot that Hanzo wasn’t trying to hurt him. 

“Christ.” McCree pressed his hand to his chest and took a deep breath. Unlike previous times, Hanzo didn’t look sympathetic. 

“I was being rather loud.” Hanzo almost looked disgruntled, like McCree had offended him in some way. McCree really didn’t want to think through that further. 

“It’s.” McCree shook his head. “That one wasn’t your fault. What did you need?” 

Hanzo now he just looked concerned. “Are you all right?”

“Y-Yeah.” McCree glanced at the tablet in his hand briefly, trying to look composed. Hanzo didn’t look convinced, slowly following McCree once he started walking again. “Honestly, I’m fine. Are you okay? You kinda looked like you were gonna hurl that whole meeting.” 

Hanzo got red in the face, visibly so, and he cleared his throat, “Actually, I was trying to thank you for that. Last night, I mean. Sorry I ran off this morning.”

“It’s fine.” McCree couldn’t really believe that Hanzo had gone out of his way to thank him, honestly, he’d sort of expected him to not mention it ever again. “By the way, Hana was looking for you this morning.” 

McCree watched the moment of terror pass over Hanzo’s face, and he couldn’t help the way he laughed. Somehow, this distracted from everything going on with Fareeha just long enough to make him relax a little. As much as Hanzo previously acted like a thorn in his side, seeing him like this reminded McCree of their past. Hanzo looked disgruntled again, his shoulders dropping. Briefly, McCree could see the Hanzo that he remembered from all those years ago in him. 

“She is never going to let me live that down.” Hanzo looked tired already, and McCree found himself laughing again. For a moment, in the glare that he got out of Hanzo, he saw that pissed off kitten look he hadn’t seen in years.

McCree stopped chuckling, shaking his head a bit. “She’ll get over it. She ropes everyone into doin’ stuff like that and doesn’t get mad when you can’t.”

“Right.” Hanzo paused when they got to the dorm building, looking like he might fall over. 

“Maybe you should go try to sleep that off before we leave.” McCree frowned, and watched Hanzo wobble a bit. 

“I will be fine.” He started towards the stairs. “I just need to eat something.”

McCree chuckled, not really thinking about it as he said it. “You’re the same as ever.” 

He swore he heard Hanzo make some kind of noise, but when McCree looked back, Hanzo had already made himself disappear. McCree let it go for now, heading back down to his room instead of thinking about it too much more. He needed to sleep for a while before they left, and if he left himself to it, he would just sit around and worry about Fareeha. So he laid down when he got to his room and set an alarm, falling asleep not long after. 

When he woke up, he had a few hours to get ready, finding Peacekeeper and holstering up before he wrapped his serape around his shoulders. He rolled a cigarette, lighting it as soon as he left his room, feeling the chill of the night hit him full on. His fingers started to freeze first, so he sucked down the cigarette and ditched it before he entered the main building of the base, heading to the hanger quickly. 

Genji sat on a cargo crate, his legs crossed and his sword laid across his lap as he meditated. “Good evening.” 

“Have you been here a while?” McCree glanced around, surprised no one else had made it down yet. 

“I was having trouble sleeping.” Genji looked down at McCree. “You are thirty minutes early, did you not notice?” 

McCree blinked. “No. Guess I wasn’t thinkin’. Worried about Fareeha?” 

“Yes.” Genji picked up his sword now, standing it on end and leaning on it slightly. “Though, like her mother, there is no way she is easy to kill.” 

“You’re right.” McCree smiled fondly, leaning on the crate as he looked up at Genji. “Same way her brothers aren’t easy to kill.” 

Genji laughed, hopping off the crate. “It is good to have you around McCree. If we find Fareeha, it would be nice to have the family together again.” 

“Yeah.” McCree felt his throat catch. Genji noticed, setting a hand on his shoulder briefly. 

“You are right, there is no way she is easy to kill,” Genji said. McCree nodded, and just about then Lena turned up, surprised to see the two of them, but not complaining. She immediately put them both to work, setting up the drop ship and explaining that she made Ana stay in bed. And by that, she meant she’d used some of that tea that Ana uses to make people sleep. 

Honestly, McCree wasn’t surprised that it took that kind of trick to get Ana to sleep and before they knew it, they started quietly reminiscing about the old Overwatch while they waited for Hanzo. Hanzo, of course, arrived exactly ten minutes before they were supposed to leave, a little confused that he was the last to arrive, but he didn’t say much. Instead, Lena jumped straight to explaining the final details of the mission, their entry point, drop point, pick up, things they should watch out for, anything she had, she gave them. 

It felt so different from when he worked with Gabe. He often got half the facts and even fewer explanations of them, Lena seemed to find transparency more important. Once the three of them had set off, they sat quietly, listening to the hum of the engine. 

“Do either of you want to tell me the significance of call tag Pharah?” Hanzo looked the two of them over, sitting across from Genji. It made McCree wonder if Jack would have joined them if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Genji shifted, rubbing the side of his head before he clicked some sort of release, allowing him to pull his face plate off. He immediately set about messing with it. Hanzo’s eyes seemed trained on Genji’s face once he could see it, taking in the scars quietly. 

“Call tag Pharah of Helix is Ana’s daughter.” Genji said it mildly, bending a piece of his faceplate with his metal hand before he popped it back into place. 

Hanzo twitched, his face softening briefly. “That would explain the intensity. Thank you for telling me.” 

McCree glanced between the two of them briefly, taking in Hanzo’s sudden change. He looked his usual professional self, but underneath that, McCree could see the look of pure anger. If McCree could guess, he didn’t like the idea of someone hurting Ana in any way. He had the same look he used to get when Genji told him the kids at school had been teasing him on his face. But then again, McCree could only guess. 

They landed early in the morning, spending little time at the drop point since they had a good amount of ground to cover. Genji led and McCree followed not long behind him, which left Hanzo watching their backs as they moved around Watchpoint Grand Mesa. McCree had only been a few times, it housed storage for Overwatch from what he understood, but that could mean a lot knowing what he knew now. In the past, he’d used it as a place to crash after getting injured doing something dumb and landing himself almost in Police hands again. 

“McCree.” Genji paused as they watched a guard move past the fence they’d followed around the base. “Do you remember that time Gabe showed us a map of this watchpoint?” 

McCree stopped, feeling Hanzo get close behind him. “Yeah, why?” 

“Is this really the time?” Hanzo looked frustrated, but Genji nodded quickly. 

“Yes.” Genji looked back at McCree. “Remember, he had us memorize how to get into the base from the cliff below?” 

“Yeah, I used that a few times.” McCree nodded, and Genji looked towards the guards before he looked back at his team. 

“I think we should go that way. There are more guards here than Lena’s intel suggests there should be.”

McCree and Hanzo both looked back at the guards, each of them counting in their heads. Genji wasn’t kidding, at least double the guards that the intel suggested floated between the fence and the actual watchpoint. 

“I agree,” McCree said. They both looked back at Hanzo, who still seemed to be counting.

“I trust you.” Hanzo turned back to them, and Genji didn’t wait, doubling back for a while before leading them to the cliff instead. Hanzo and Genji each made quick work of heading down the rock while McCree took a small amount of time to find the ladder that led down to the dwelling. When he got down there, Hanzo and Genji stood amongst the ancient stone ruins built into the side of the cliff. Hanzo particularly looked mesmerized, looking over the stones and gently touching a few of the buildings, just examining the houses and structures. 

“Wild, right?” McCree said, following Genji past Hanzo to get to the entrance they both knew. Hanzo nodded, following McCree shortly after he finished staring at the wall. 

“It is native?” Hanzo asked. McCree nodded this time and made it a point to not talk after that, just in case the entrance hd a guard on it. Hanzo caught on, slipping his bow from his shoulder and taking out a single arrow when McCree set his hand on his gun. 

Lucky for them, it seemed like Helix didn’t know the entrance existed. Genji led them up the long ladder which opened up to a small store room. McCree had dragged himself there a few times when Overwatch still had the base. More than once had he crawled up the ladder, in a lot of pain and begging anyone he saw for two fingers of bourbon and a cigarette. Now it had been cleared out, no one casually waiting outside the door as they peaked out of the door. 

“It seems as though they might be unaware of this level altogether.” Genji glanced at Hanzo, the three of them knelt on the ground with McCree on the door. “You remember the layout? The main elevator shaft is here.” 

Genji went about drawing a little diagram for Hanzo who listened closely. The three of them would need to stick together if they went off book, they all knew it. Lena might get mad, but if it meant they found Fareeha and figured out what Talon might want at the base, then it would be worth it. Once Genji had fully explained the layout, he took the lead again, the three of them moving through the lowest hall of the facility. 

They made their way up the stairwell, Genji carefully shuffling the door open. It led them to a storehouse, long racks full of shipping crates and various supplies sat in rows throughout the huge room. The very center had an empty path, which they slowly made their way towards. 

As they went, something started to worry McCree. He remembered Gabe telling them to never go up or open a door when they got there because it would set off alarms. Granted, Helix probably didn’t have the same protocols as Overwatch, but this still didn’t seem quite right. McCree wasn’t fast enough, he tried to reach out for Genji before he stepped into the main walkway between the rows. The whole warehouse lit up, a blaring alarm noise filling the room, and then they could hear the rapid firing of several guns. 

Genji jumped across the walkway, getting up on one of the racks quickly. When McCree turned back, Hanzo had already climbed up a rack. McCree knew he had to go up too, so he climbed just one level, shoving the crates on the shelf through with a heave. All of them fell with a loud crash and he hopped to the next rack as Hanzo ran to the end of the rack he’d climbed, now on they very top. 

Hanzo sourced one of the guns, taking out the shooter with an easy shot, only to have the rack underneath him suddenly rock and start to fall. McCree heard the comms click on, Genji rapidly speaking to Hanzo in Japanese. So quickly, McCree didn’t even catch half of it. Hanzo didn’t seem to have his comms on yet, so McCree made his way to the other side of the racks, climbing up as quickly as he could. They had an escape route chosen, and as McCree got to the top, he watched Genji making his way towards the hallway they needed to go. 

It seemed like the guards couldn’t find him for the moment, so he quickly found the nearest person with a gun. Much to his dismay, they didn’t look like Talon. Helix guards scrambled around the room, treating Hanzo, Genji, and McCree as they would treat any intruder. 

“Fuck.” McCree flipped his comms on, looking around for Genji again, but he had already disappeared, so he made his ext. Genji must have given up on talking to Hanzo on the comms, so now he couldn’t hear anything besides some heavy breathing. “Ninja One, Ninja Two, I think we’ve been set-up.” 

“Yes.” Genji, to McCree’s surprise, stood on the other side of the door when McCree got there. He let go of his comms, and in a moment, they realized that Hanzo hadn’t made it. 

“Shit.” McCree pressed on his comms, “Ninja Two, are you there.” 

An uncomfortable silence came over them, Genji and McCree looking at each other as they waited for any response. Three seconds felt like a long time when someone might have gotten crushed by a shipping crate or worse. An entire minute felt like an eternity, especially when they really needed to leave.

“I am under a rack,” Hanzo said. McCree and Genji both jumped, locking eyes. “Get out. I can figure this out on my own.” 

McCree felt his throat tighten and for a moment, he dreaded Genji agreeing with Hanzo. Of course, Genji shook his head, pressing on his comms button. 

“We can not leave you.” Genji looked at the door they stood next to, both of them had their weapons ready. 

“Genji, do not argue.” Hanzo made a noise like he was pushing something off him. “Just go, I will get out.” 

McCree felt his hands shaking, and he heard Hanzo turn off his comms. Genji looked back at McCree, glancing down the hallway where several men started to appear at the end. “I am going back for my brother,” Genji said. “Are you?”

A wave of relief washed over McCree, and he nodded quickly. “Absolutely.” 

Genji nodded, and flung the door back open with his foot, the two of them promptly taking out two men that had been carefully approaching the door. It didn’t take long for the people on the catwalks to start shooting at them again, McCree following a step behind Genji as they started to try to non-lethally take out the people in their way. 

The pile of racks had completely settled now, broken crates and weapons lying about as they made their way down the aisle of rows. Genji looked back at McCree, hopping up and climbing to the top of the nearest rack so he could distract the guys shooting at them. McCree took it as a signal to make his way across the other side, looking for any rubble that moved like it had someone beneath it. 

It didn’t take him long to see a crate shifting strangely, clearly not still settling from the fall. He watched Hanzo’s hand pop out from under a lid, trying to pull himself out, so McCree holstered Peacekeeper, and went to clear some of the stuff off the lid. He could hear Hanzo cursing, and at one point, he felt Hanzo’s hand on his boot. McCree got the last of the weapons off the crate lid, lifting it so Hanzo could slide himself out from under it. 

“You are lucky I recognized those terrible boots, I thought you were a guard.” Hanzo snapped, an arrow in his hand, ready to use as a weapon on its own. He didn’t seem to have his bow. 

“That’s an interesting way to say thank you,” McCree said. Hanzo looked pissed, angrier than McCree had seen him in a long time. 

“I did not ask the two of you to come back for me,” Hanzo spat. McCree felt his stomach churn with rage, but it didn’t last. It all broke when he saw the glint of Genji’s sword flying across the racks across from them. It got Hanzo’s attention too, the two of them watching as it stuck straight up in a crate and then McCree felt his chest ice over. 

Genji fell like a sack of potatoes from the top of the rack, his form unmoving, and once it was, three men started in towards him. Hanzo didn’t hesitate, already running for Genji’s sword, throwing his arrow at one of the men. It landed in his shoulder, which mostly seemed to startle him, and as McCree watched, he saw the same Hanzo he’d seen the night that opposing faction had invaded the Shimada mansion. 

He moved faster than McCree imagined he could, catching the sword and running it across the closest guard’s front. McCree watched the man fall backwards, and by the time he hit the ground, Hanzo had already jammed Genji’s sword into the shoulder of the guard nearest Genji. She fell back with a hard thud, crying out when Hanzo pulled the sword from her flesh. 

McCree kicked into gear then, sizing up the room, and reloading Peacekeeper as rolled out into the aisle, just behind Hanzo. In a quick movement, he fanned five shots into five mean on the catwalks, watching them all fall. Hanzo had already picked Genji up, his body limo over his brother’s shoulder as McCree pointed towards the only exit he could think of. 

They both booked it towards the way they’d come in, and while there they couldn’t get to the drop ship from there, McCree had a feeling they couldn’t get through the guards going the other way. McCree could probably barricade the room the entrance to the ruins sat in, maybe he could explain Overwatch had sent them to the guards. He doubted that.

When they reached the room with the long chute, ladder there waiting, he paused, trying to think of what to do next. To his surprise, Hanzo pulled the golden tie out of his hair, carefully using it as a makeshift bandage on Genji’s arm before he threw him back over his shoulder and started right down the ladder. McCree only gaped long enough to break the door handle before he followed. He paused to break the mechanism used to open the hatch too, hoping it would slow down the guards. The guards hadn’t followed, but it felt worth the trouble. 

They settled Genji down in one of the small, ancient buildings with a low floor. It gave them some extra cover, and McCree slipped his serape off, rolling it into a pillow for Genji once Hanzo had gingerly laid him out on the ground. Hanzo still looked ticked off, but McCree wasn’t really paying attention for now. Instead, he promptly dug out the emergency signal device he had buried in Peacekeeper’s handle.

Hanzo readjusted the hair tie on Genji before pulling something from his belt to tie his hair up again. He then found something to clean off Genji’s sword so he could sheath it. McCree noticed that his hands shook the whole time he handled the sword. His face twitching slightly and he promptly set the sword down at Genji’s side, looking uncomfortable for a few moments. 

McCree let him take a moment to himself, fidgeting with the emergency signal. He wasn’t even sure if it would work honestly, but he needed to try. After he set it up, settling it on a window ledge in hopes that it would actually get reception there, he turned back to Hanzo who looked on edge and pissed off. He watched Genji breathe, sitting perfectly still with an arrow in his hand. 

“Hopefully Echo will pick up that signal and send someone here.” McCree kept his voice low despite the fact that they likely lost the guards. Hanzo’s eyes hit him with a tired sort of anger. 

“You two should not have come back for me.” Hanzo kept his voice low, his hand tightening around the arrow as he looked Genji over. McCree shook his head a bit, but to his surprise, Genji shifted. 

“ _ Anija _ .” Genji’s voice sounded tired, and also a little bit angry. “Shut up. We would not have left you behind.” 

Hanzo stared at Genji for a moment, agape and like he might say something, but he just closed his mouth. “ _ Don’t talk Genji. You should rest _ .” 

“Yes, but I need McCree to get this faceplate off me, it is hard to breathe.” Genji turned his head towards McCree, revealing the side of his face to present the latch to McCree. Hanzo looked confused, but without hesitation, McCree leaned forward and carefully removed the faceplate. Genji had shown him how once a long time ago in a similar situation. “Thank you.”

Genji closed his eyes and leaned back into the serape more. In a bit, he looked like he’d fallen asleep or maybe passed out. As Hanzo sat watching his brother, McCree settled himself near the door to stand guard. The hours passed slowly, McCree’s signal clearly not getting anywhere just yet. He just hoped it would work, but after night fell, Hanzo seemed to get antsy. 

“Is there a way we can get out if they do not send a drop ship?” Hanzo asked, looking at the little emergency signal McCree had in the stone window. 

“Not unless we have about five hundred feet of rope or some climbing gear.” McCree methodically counted his bullets, he only had thirteen now. He’d have to make them count if someone found them. Worst off, he’d grown hungry and so tired. “We should try to rest. Take turns standing guard. In the morning we can reassess.” 

Hanzo didn’t seem to like that answer, but he stood up for the first time in a while, moving to the door to sit across from McCree. “Rest if you need,” he said. “I will keep watch for now.” 

McCree nodded. He didn’t bother to move, his gun still in hand as he settled his hat low enough that it covered his face. Once he’d done that, he leaned back against the wall of the little building they’d settled in and tried to sleep. 

He wasn’t sure that he’d call it sleep, and it certainly wasn’t restful, but he’d fallen unconscious for a while. When he woke up, the sun barely peeked over the horizon. Hanzo sat, wide awake, with his arms crossed as he looked out onto the rest of the small dwelling built into the cliff. He didn’t look good, his eyes sort of puffy and his shoulders hunched slightly. 

“You didn’t wake me.” McCree said, pushing his hat up onto his head and rubbing his face. Hanzo looked about as terrible as he felt, so he had a feeling he didn’t look too great either. 

“I was awake,” Hanzo said. “There was no need.” 

McCree sighed, letting it go quickly. “How’s Genji?”

“No change.” Hanzo looked back at his brother who still laid passively on the ground. Some blood pooled under him, but it didn’t look very fresh. McCree didn’t know if that was a good, or bad sign. At least he’d stayed somewhat conscious, unlike Jack.

“All right,” McCree carefully stood up brushing himself off and looking the area over. “I think we need to figure something out.” 

Just as he said it, he heard a noise he really didn’t believe he’d heard. Looking out the small window, beyond the cliff, McCree felt his heart start up. The drop ship fluttered out in the open, really visible, in the light of the sun rising as it moved towards them. Hanzo stood up, his brow furrowed as he moved to stand next to McCree. 

“Thank fuck.” Hanzo said it so low that McCree almost didn’t hear it, but when he looked back, he heard the sound of heavy fire. 

“Shit. Get Genji.” McCree ran out of the hovel they’d been in, heading down towards the cliff to try to get some sort of gauge on why Helix had brought out the big guns. The drop ship probably didn’t have a pilot, and since it didn’t, it would turn back on them if it sustained too much damage. He carefully leaned over the side of the cliff, looking up for the guns, but he realized they weren’t shooting at the ship. Rather, they chased around something that looked like a bird, but it definitely had some kind of rockets on it and it shot back. 

Hanzo turned up about then with Genji over his shoulder, trying to see what McCree could see. McCree looked back at him, helping him lay Genji down on the edge of the cliff. 

“They’re not firing on our ship. At least, not for now.” McCree turned his comms on, trying to see if anyone the dropship had a pilot. He watched as Genji flinched, Hanzo clinging to his sword as he tried to get him into a good spot so they could get on the ship as quickly as possible. 

Unfortunately for them, the person who had previously looked like a bird to McCree swooped down in front of the cliff dwelling they’d hidden in. Just as the sound of foot soldiers hitting the ground came from where Hanzo, Genji, and McCree had entered the base, meaning Helix had them surrounded. They might still be fucked. 

The drop ship came in close as the Helix guards came around the building they’d hidden in overnight. The door to the dropshipt opened much too slowly, but Hanzo gathered up Genji, ready to get him inside and to McCree’s surprise, he also clung to McCree’s serape. 

“I can hold them off, get Genji in.” McCree glanced at the drop ship, it wouldn’t stay close enough for long, not with that other person drawing heavier fire in on them. He took six shots as fast as he could, knocking down the first five guards coming his way. It slowed down the whole line, but when McCree turned back, the drop ship had already started to lift away from the cliff, and fast. 

Hanzo yelled down at him, using an arrow to the jam the door so it’d stay open longer. McCree, as much as he hated this idea, drew back slightly and ran for the cliff, reaching out desperately for Hanzo. His fingers extended painfully, and he hat fell off before he even realized his hand had slipped past Hanzo’s. Now he was falling, his arms still out, and watching Hanzo’s wide and desperate eyes. 

And then he felt something metal on his back, catching him in a way that hurt, but he wasn’t falling into the valley. The next thing he knew, he rose up, a metal arm around him tightly, and a hand awkwardly holding onto his shoulder. With a loud noise, his comms crackled, and in a familiar voice, he heard someone yell. 

“Clearing the area.” The voice sounded calm and collected, letting go of McCree’s shoulder and shooting a single blast into the cliff. It knocked all of the soldiers back, leaving them just enough cover and time to land on the drop ship. McCree couldn’t put his feet on the ground, stuck in this person’s arms as Hanzo tugged out the arrow and let the doors shut. 

Of course, in the same movement, he had Genji’s sword out, and he put himself between Genji and the person holding McCree. Which honestly, McCree didn’t blame him for. He heard a click though, the helmet on the person holding him starting to come up as they let McCree go, tossing his hat after him. McCree watched the helmet, his hand on Peacekeeper, but he had a theory about the pilot’s identity and as her helmet came off, McCree had never felt more relieved in his life. 

“Of all people,” Fareeha said. “What is half of Blackwatch doing breaking into an old Overwatch facility?” 

Hanzo, not lowering the sword at all, looked between McCree and Fareeha for a moment, more confused than McCree had seen him in his entire life. McCree settled his hat back on his head, looking up at Fareeha and taking a deep breath. 

“Well, we’re Overwatch now.” McCree said, and then looked briefly at Hanzo, waving at him a bit. “Stand down, it’s fine. This is Ana’s daughter.” 

Fareeha looked baffled for a moment, pressing something on her armor which opened it up so she could step out of it. Her flight suit clinging to her for a moment and then loosening up as she moved. She glanced at Hanzo, who took all of this to mean he could carefully sheath the sword and turn back to Genji who had fallen completely unconscious. 

“What are the three of you doing here?” Fareeha asked. “And who is this?” She gestured at Hanzo, and set a hand on her hip. Honestly, McCree hadn’t seen her in long enough, he couldn’t believe just how much she looked like Ana. “Also, why would this person have met my mother before she died?” 

Hanzo even froze this time, both of them looking up at Fareeha. He promptly deferred to McCree, giving him a look that he would absolutely not explain this one. McCree took another deep breath, looking back up at Fareeha again. 

“Your mom is the one who sent us here,” McCree said. “She’s alive.” 

Fareeha briefly looked angry, and then she looked so incredibly sad, stunned even, as she pressed a hand over her mouth. “That letter must have been real, then Jack too?” 

McCree nodded. “Yeah, Jack is alive.” He didn’t want to have to explain Gabe to her, he’d let her mom handle that one. 

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “So this is taking us where?” 

“Gibraltar.” 

“And why were you sneaking into this facility?” 

“Thought Talon was after it,” McCree said. “Thought they might have even taken it already.” 

Fareeha’s face grew dark and she sat down in one of the seats, looking at McCree and then darting her eyes to Hanzo and Genji. She then started to explain a complicated story which boiled down to a few things. Helix had a traitor, she no longer trusted them with any of Overwatch’s old facilities, and she made herself disappear so she could investigate, but stopped to help the drop ship when she’d seen it. 

“I am glad I did, seeing the state Genji is in.” She looked over at Genji briefly, and then her eyes landed on Hanzo. “Sorry, I was rude before, what is your name?” 

Hanzo took a moment to realize she had spoken to him. “Hanzo Shimada.” 

“That’s what I thought.” Fareeha didn’t seem to need to question that further, the drop ship landing in the hanger not long after that. Angela ran on the ship in a flash, slipping off the tie that Hanzo had used as a bandage, and promptly shooing Hanzo away from Genji so they could get him down to the medical bay. Hanzo didn’t put up much fight, watching Genji go with a worried look on his face. 

Ana ran onto the ship next, not taking long to notice her daughter. She hugged Fareeha so tight, McCree thought she might break her. He slipped off the ship then, not really paying them any mind for now so he could tail Hanzo, slowly, quietly down to the med bay where he stood dumbly at the door for a moment. 

“You did not have to follow me,” he said. 

“I know,” McCree stopped next to him. “Listen, if there’s anyone who can fix Genji, it’s Ang. She’s brought him back from worse.” 

Hanzo’s brow furrowed. “She is the one who brought him back after I hurt him, correct?” 

McCree clicked his mouth shut and just nodded, watching Hanzo’s stoney face for a moment. He seemed comforted by that for some reason, and then all of the sorrow washed over his face at once. 

“I told you that you should not come back for me.” Hanzo glanced at McCree, his expression cold and sad. “I am not worth either of your lives.” 

McCree’s hand moved before he thought it through. McCree gripped his wrist hard, seething for a moment, and it was like a light came on, Hanzo’s entire face changing as he twitched back. McCree realized what he had done, trying to dial it back as much as he could, but he still spat out, “How could you possibly expect me to just let you go like that?” 

He’d managed to cut himself off before he said anything more. Hanzo stared, startled and his mouth hanging open for a moment. He didn’t seem to have a response, his eyes scanning McCree’s face briefly, not moving a muscle. 

McCree suddenly felt the tears rolling down his face and he realized he needed to go. He let Hanzo’s arm go, worried about Genji and tired. They couldn’t do this right now, this wasn’t the right time. So he wiped his face off quickly. “Sorry, didn’t get much sleep after all.” 

He left Hanzo there, and thankfully Hanzo didn’t follow him. McCree lit a cigarette in his room, smoking in his bed for the first time in a long, long time. He passed out cold not long after that, still in his clothes and covered in dust. 

 

_ “Are you,” Genji’s voice was tentative, like he wasn’t sure if he should ask the question. “Are you still in love with my brother?”  _

_ McCree nearly choked on his cigarette, looking back at Genji’s glowing eyes and his bare arm. The heat of the summer left both of them burning in the sun out at the back of the base so they could smoke.  _

_ “I,” McCree stopped. “How do you expect me to answer that Genji?”  _

_ Genji shrugged, flicking away the butt of his cigarette. “I know you still are. I just. I wanted to ask how you forgave him.” _

_ “Forgave him for what?” McCree asked. Genji just gestured at himself, which McCree probably should have assumed. He’d avoided this conversation up until this point though, taking a long drag on his cigarette before tossing the butt away into the gorge.  _

_ “Anytime I think of my brother, I feel as though I could kill him the same way I killed all of the other members of our clan.” Genji settled a hand on his stomach, looking away from McCree. “But I realized. He is not with them. If he were with them, I would have found him by now. So I, now I feel as though, maybe hunting him down, revenge. I am starting to wonder if it will be worth it.”  _

_ McCree cringed at every mention of killing Hanzo, his hair standing on end as he tried to really think about what Genji had said. “Listen, I am still in love with your brother, probably not in the way you’re thinkin’, but I am. As far as forgivin’ him goes, I mean, how much do you know about the Elders of the Shimada-Gumi?”  _

_ “I do not know very much.” Genji glanced out onto the gorge.  _

_ “Hanzo told me a lot about the Elders, things he never wanted you to know. In that year between your father dying, and my disappearance, they made Hanzo’s life a living hell.” McCree toyed with his cigarette, looking back at Genji now.  _

_ Genji frowned, “I don’t see how that relates.”  _

_ McCree took a long drag on his cigarette, and glanced back at Genji. “It doesn’t excuse it, but it might explain it some. That’s how it relates.”  _

_ “Why did he not tell me himself?” Genji looked hurt, and for a moment, McCree could see the seams of where his rage ended and the sorrow began. Maybe somewhere in there Genji wondered why his otherwise doting brother would have done what he did.  _

_ “He didn’t want you to know,” McCree said. “The day he told me your father died, he told me he was going to try to get you to come with him. You would know more about what happened there, but I knew the reason he wouldn’t leave without you was that he didn’t want them sinking their teeth into you next.”  _

_ “I didn’t want to go because I thought he was trying to prevent me from joining Overwatch.” Genji mumbled, setting his face in his hand. “Following you might have meant joining it anyway.”  _

_ McCree nodded solemnly, “I know. I wish I had made that clearer to you both back then. He never told me why you weren’t listening.”  _

_ “What else is there?” Genji looked at McCree. “That you know that I don’t.”  _

_ “About me and Hanzo, or about the Elders?” McCree locked eyes with Genji, and for a long moment, Genji didn’t say anything. He eventually looked away from McCree, picking his head up to look at the gorge instead.  _

_ “Both.” Genji’s voice sounded soft and McCree knew the gentle way he handled approaching this had to do with McCree. He had always been careful not to get too dark around McCree, not about Hanzo at least. Genji seemed to understand that pressing his fingers into that wound and twisting wasn’t really necessary.  _

_ “I had a ring with me.” McCree said it casually, but Genji’s head still whipped back around to stare at him. “That trip Hanzo and I were supposed to go on. I was going to propose, we had talked about getting married before.”  _

_ Genji stared. “But he sent you away?”  _

_ “Yep.” McCree nodded. “And he made sure I stayed away too, I think he was afraid I’d get hurt or used to manipulate him. It was almost a year before I was recruited into Blackwatch and they faked my death.”  _

_ To McCree’s surprise, Genji stood up at that, his frame shaking slightly as he did. “I think it might be time for me to leave.”  _

_ McCree watched him for a moment, “I can tell you the rest later, Genji. I’ll be here.”  _

_ Genji shook his head. “No. I think it is time I left Blackwatch.” _

_ McCree closed his mouth, watching Genji wobble for a second. He had tears in his eyes, McCree could see the way they shined in the setting sun. “And do what?”  _

_ “Learn to accept myself as I am.” Genji paused as he started down the catwalk, looking back at McCree. “I think that is the first step to forgiving my brother.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just repeating this, I have pretty much officially stopped using Tumblr! If you want updates on when my fic is coming out, please follow me on Twitter!! You can find me at @Galaxiebot

**Author's Note:**

> This has been like, a year in the making, I don’t think I’ve edited a single chapter of fic nearly as many times as I have this one, I hope you all love it as much as I have come to love it. Also, strap in friends, this is going to be a long ride.
> 
> There's a playlist for this fic now, in case anyone is interested: http://galaxiebot.tumblr.com/post/172646369219/nerdiebot-pitch-black-pale-blueyou-know-what


End file.
